Ukraine’s leader Zelensky is named Time’s 2022 Person of the Year
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Volodymyr Zelensky and the Spirit of Ukraine is named Time’s 2022 Person of the Year after Putin’s invasion plunged the country into war and his leadership was compared to Winston Churchill.
- TIME magazine announced the 2022 ‘Person of the Year’ on Wednesday
- Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky inspired Ukrainians and won worldwide praise for his courage in resisting Russia’s devastating invasion.
- Other finalists included Chinese President Xi Jinping, Ron DeSantis
- Elon Musk named Time’s ‘Person of the Year’ for 2021
Time magazine named Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky its ‘2022 Person of the Year’ on Wednesday, saying he inspired Ukrainians and won global praise for his courage in resisting Russia’s devastating invasion.
Refusing to leave Ukraine’s capital Kyiv at the outbreak of war as Russian bombs rained down, the former comedian rallied his compatriots on broadcasts from the capital and toured his war-torn nation, the publication noted in awarding its annual headline. .
Tesla Inc CEO Elon Musk was named Time’s “Person of the Year” for 2021, a year in which his electric car company became the world’s most valuable automaker. Time started this tradition in 1927.
Time magazine named Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky its 2022 Person of the Year on Wednesday, saying he inspired Ukrainians and won global praise for his courage in resisting Russia’s devastating invasion.
Zelensky refused to leave the Ukrainian capital Kyiv at the start of the war while bombs were raining down.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Zelensky has delivered daily speeches followed not only by Ukrainians but also by citizens and governments around the world.
He has appeared on the front lines and recently celebrated on the streets of Kherson as Ukraine drove Russia out of the critical southern city.
Just this Tuesday, Zelensky visited Ukrainian troops near the front lines in eastern Ukraine.
“Zelensky’s success as a wartime leader has been based on the fact that courage is contagious,” Time wrote, recognizing the 44-year-old leader.
“It spread through the political leadership of Ukraine in the first days of the invasion, when everyone realized that the president had stayed.”
Time Editor-in-Chief Edward Felsenthal announced the magazine’s pick exclusively on Wednesday TODAY.
“Whether one looks at this Ukraine story with a sense of hope or fear, and the story, of course, is not fully written yet… Zelensky has really galvanized the world in a way we haven’t seen in decades.” Felsenthal said.
Since the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, Zelensky has delivered daily speeches followed not only by Ukrainians but also by citizens and governments around the world.
“Whether one looks at this Ukraine story with a sense of hope or fear, and the story, of course, is not fully written yet… Zelensky has really galvanized the world in a way we haven’t seen in decades.” Felsenthal added.
Also named winners this year, the women of Iran were named 2022 Heroes of the Year. The magazine named Blackpink Time’s Artist of the Year 2022 and Aaron Judge Time’s 2022 Athlete of the Year.
Last year, Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla, SpaceX and now Twitter, was chosen by the magazine as its Person of the Year.
US President Joe Biden and Vice President Kamala Harris jointly won in 2020.
King Charles’s mother, Queen Elizabeth II, was Time’s Woman of the Year for 1952, the year she became monarch.
And in 2019, climate activist Greta Thunberg, then just 16, made history when she was named the most influential.
Zelensky was chosen this year from a list of nine other finalists.
They included Chinese President Xi Jinping, US Supreme Court Elon Musk, Rep. Liz Cheney, MacKenzie Scott, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, protesters in Iran, gun safety advocates and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen.