Zelensky mocks Putin with gag about the war in David Letterman Netflix special

Ukraine’s President Zelensky has made a humorous taunt of Vladimir Putin, poking fun at the Russian despot in an appearance on a Netflix chat show.

David Letterman’s My Next Guest Needs No Introduction has usually booked guests like Cardi B, Lizzo and Will Smith, but this time the veteran late-night chat show host headed to the Ukraine to interview Volodymyr Zelensky.

In an underground bunker 300 feet below a Kiev subway platform, David Letterman, 75, met with the Ukrainian leader to discuss the ongoing conflict in his country.

Zelensky, 44, a popular TV comedian before making the unorthodox transition into politics, was eager to poke fun at the Russian leader.

Zelensky, 44, a popular TV comedian before making the unorthodox transition into politics, was eager to poke fun at the Russian leader in the interview with David Letterman.

David Letterman appears in his interview with Zelensky listening to the Ukrainian leader’s joke.

Speaking in Ukrainian, Zelensky, who is also Jewish, told Letterman his joke mocking Vladimir Putin.

‘Two Jews meet in Odessa. One asks the other: ‘And how is the situation there? What do they say?’

‘Well, what do they say, they say there’s a war,’ says the other.

What a war?

Russia is at war with NATO.

‘So how’s the war going?’

“Well, the Russians lost 70,000 soldiers, all the rockets were used up, a lot of military equipment was destroyed.”

And NATO?

‘Well, what about NATO? NATO has not arrived yet.

The Ukrainian audience laughed in response to the president’s taunting of Putin.

Zelensky’s joke mocks Russia for propaganda which has refused to call the conflict a “war” and has instead labeled it a “special military operation”.

He also laughs at the fact that Ukrainian forces were able to put down Russian attacks without the explicit help of NATO forces.

The Russian government has categorically underestimated the Ukrainian attack since the invasion in February. Thinking they could just move on to kyiv in February, Putin’s men have taken blows, being pushed back in areas like Kharkiv and Kherson.

In an underground bunker 300 feet below a Kiev subway platform, David Letterman, 75, met with Zelensky to discuss the ongoing conflict in his country.

The Netflix special premiered on December 12. The conversation with the Ukrainian leader was filmed in October in an underground bunker with a Ukrainian audience invited to attend the interview.

Letterman admitted his apprehension before arriving in Ukraine. “When we were planning this trip, I wasn’t sure what to expect,” the veteran American comedian said in his voiceover before the interview.

“Months had passed since the Russian troops were driven out of the city. But just a week ago, Russia launched missiles and drones into Ukraine, including several that hit Kiev,” Letterman said in the montage.

At one point in the interview, a siren sounds throughout the bunker. ‘What should we do?’ asks Letterman.

But Zelensky, wearing a black hoodie that reads “I’m Ukrainian,” humorously replied: “nothing.”

He then assured Letterman not to panic, explaining that this had become a common feature of life in the Ukraine.