Volodymyr Zelensky: Comedian to commander
The Story
The Times
3.9 • 1.6K Ratings
🗓️ 3 March 2022
⏱️ 33 minutes
🧾️ Download transcript
Summary
He describes himself as the enemy’s number one target. So, as a plot to assassinate the Ukrainian President was reportedly thwarted by the nation’s armed forces, and the assault on the Ukrainian capital intensifies, we ask how Volodymyr Zelensky came to lead his country in its darkest hour since the Second World War.
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Guest: Peter Conradi, Sunday Times Europe Editor.
Host: David Aaronovitch.
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Berlin, the city that draws in the world. |
| 0:03.3 | I'm John Kampfner, best-selling author of why the Germans do it better. |
| 0:07.9 | I've spent four years walking Berlin streets, |
| 0:11.1 | talking to historians, architects, archaeologists and politicians, |
| 0:15.7 | visiting sites of joy, horror, beauty and madness. |
| 0:20.4 | In search of Berlin, the 800-year story of a reinvented city by me, John Kampfner, |
| 0:27.1 | available now in all good bookshops. |
| 0:36.0 | He's describing himself as the enemy's number one target. |
| 0:40.4 | The enemy who's marked me down as number one target, |
| 0:44.4 | my family is the number two target. |
| 0:47.2 | They want to destroy Ukraine politically by destroying the head of state. |
| 0:52.0 | And with perhaps 400 Russian mercenaries casing the streets of Kiev looking for him, |
| 0:57.2 | he's not wrong. |
| 1:00.2 | Wearing a dark green t-shirt in place of his usual shirt and tie, |
| 1:03.8 | and speaking from a video link in hiding, |
| 1:06.4 | Ukraine's President Vladimir Zelensky addressed the European Parliament earlier this week, |
| 1:11.5 | saying his country had proven its resolve. |
| 1:14.6 | We have proven our strengths. |
| 1:18.4 | We have proven that as at a minimum, |
| 1:23.2 | we are exactly the same as you are. |
| 1:26.3 | So do prove that you are with us. |
| 1:29.7 | As Vladimir Putin's assault on the Ukrainian capital intensifies, |
... |
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