Ievgen klopotenko

Person of the Year—who ievgen klopotenko what most influenced the events of the past 12 months, for good or for ill—can be agonizing. How could one person represent an entire year? Do we lean into the light, reach into the darkness, or land somewhere in between?

This year’s choice was the most clear-cut in memory. Whether the battle for Ukraine fills one with hope or with fear, Volodymyr Zelensky galvanized the world in a way we haven’t seen in decades. In the weeks after Russian bombs began falling on Feb. 24, his decision not to flee Kyiv but to stay and rally support was fateful. In a world that had come to be defined by its divisiveness, there was a coming together around this cause, around this country that some outside it might not be able to find on a map. North Korea, Syria, Eritrea, and Belarus—dictatorships all—voted with Moscow.

The spirit of Ukraine was embodied by countless individuals inside and outside the country. Many fought behind the scenes, like Ievgen Klopotenko, one of Ukraine’s most famous chefs, known for his borsch, who provided over a thousand free meals a day to refugees in Lviv in the first weeks after the invasion. All the while, journalists risked their lives to tell these stories. Olga Rudenko, the editor of the Kyiv Independent.

Zelensky has been laser-focused on keeping the world’s eyes on Ukraine. The former entertainer understood innately that attention is the planet’s most valuable currency and all but cornered the global market. He did this through meticulous image-building and repetition in his message. He was blunt, sometimes sarcastic, and always directly to the point: we must save Ukraine to save democracy. Zelensky has earned his share of criticism.