MYKOLAIV: Vitaly Kim has a great sense of humour. Maybe it’s necessary: he’s the governor Ukrainesouthern region of mycoliveWhere there is rumored to be a fresh face-to-face with Russian soldiers.
Missiles attack the provincial capital overnight. Water lines have been cut and Kim’s own office was banished from existence by a missile attack on the building in the first weeks of the war.
When the block was bombed in March and Kim was announcing bleak updates on social media, he quipped that he survived only 37 people killed because he slept.
His selfie videos – walking around in a confiscated Russian vehicle, or laughing at jokes at Moscow’s expense – have made him a cult personality over the months.
Through it all, there’s an undeniable feeling that the 41-year-old chubby is trying to shed light on a serious crisis.
“There are different ways to manage the situation,” he told AFP this week with a hint of a grin. “It’s my style, that doesn’t mean it’s easy.”
Still, he insists: “I enjoy whatever I’m doing.”
comic relief
Kim’s territory is a region of sunshine in southern Ukraine buried against the Black Sea coast, where war with Russia That’s changing as you approach your seventh month.
Like many government officials, he has imitated the presidential fashion. Volodymyr Zelensky Since the invasion began in late February, the military began to appear on the playground in public.
On Wednesday he spoke to reporters wearing camouflage trousers and a black T-shirt marked with the silhouette of the supernatural “hunter” from the 1987 science-fiction/horror film of the same name, incongruously captioning “Department Patrol Police.”
Shadowed by the municipal building where his office once stood – and where the walls are still painted with bloody handprints – they explain the philosophy of comic leadership that developed when the war broke out.
“I decided to fool and fool my enemy,” he said. “Many of our people needed it, not to be afraid.”
Those early days are gone and people now “like” his humorous style. He said “mostly it’s not needed” like he once did.
His sense of humor seems to align with the broader “wink and nudge” Ukraine has adopted to deal with months of violence and no end in sight.
When a Russian airfield exploded in Crimea last week, Ukrainian officials suspected of a daring raid plot, reacted with glee, without officially confirming responsibility.
Kim also believes that he used the word “orcs” jokingly to refer to Russian soldiers.
The term – now used among soldiers across the country – has been taken off from fantasy novels and video games, alluding to ghost-esque evil creatures.
“They really like them because they were out of their minds,” he explained. “Propaganda in Russia for dozens of years changed his thinking.”
“Even they didn’t understand what they were doing.”
tactician in disguise
But Kim – the child of teacher parents – is not a full-time jester.
When asked about the alleged Ukrainian retaliation in his territory, he is stone-faced.
All he says is “good condition” on the front line. Making an offensive plan is “not that easy”. And Ukraine is engaged in “active defense”.
“Counter-offensive is a very broad expression,” he says. “It’s going on, that’s all.”
Despite his impressive public persona, he is paying nothing.
There’s a feeling that behind a quick-quipped man is another, who may take the contingency for any deadly serious new twist in the unfolding war with Russia.
He said that some people mistook his lighter part as a sign of weakness.
“That’s not true, because I can smile and I can destroy something.”
Missiles attack the provincial capital overnight. Water lines have been cut and Kim’s own office was banished from existence by a missile attack on the building in the first weeks of the war.
When the block was bombed in March and Kim was announcing bleak updates on social media, he quipped that he survived only 37 people killed because he slept.
His selfie videos – walking around in a confiscated Russian vehicle, or laughing at jokes at Moscow’s expense – have made him a cult personality over the months.
Through it all, there’s an undeniable feeling that the 41-year-old chubby is trying to shed light on a serious crisis.
“There are different ways to manage the situation,” he told AFP this week with a hint of a grin. “It’s my style, that doesn’t mean it’s easy.”
Still, he insists: “I enjoy whatever I’m doing.”
comic relief
Kim’s territory is a region of sunshine in southern Ukraine buried against the Black Sea coast, where war with Russia That’s changing as you approach your seventh month.
Like many government officials, he has imitated the presidential fashion. Volodymyr Zelensky Since the invasion began in late February, the military began to appear on the playground in public.
On Wednesday he spoke to reporters wearing camouflage trousers and a black T-shirt marked with the silhouette of the supernatural “hunter” from the 1987 science-fiction/horror film of the same name, incongruously captioning “Department Patrol Police.”
Shadowed by the municipal building where his office once stood – and where the walls are still painted with bloody handprints – they explain the philosophy of comic leadership that developed when the war broke out.
“I decided to fool and fool my enemy,” he said. “Many of our people needed it, not to be afraid.”
Those early days are gone and people now “like” his humorous style. He said “mostly it’s not needed” like he once did.
His sense of humor seems to align with the broader “wink and nudge” Ukraine has adopted to deal with months of violence and no end in sight.
When a Russian airfield exploded in Crimea last week, Ukrainian officials suspected of a daring raid plot, reacted with glee, without officially confirming responsibility.
Kim also believes that he used the word “orcs” jokingly to refer to Russian soldiers.
The term – now used among soldiers across the country – has been taken off from fantasy novels and video games, alluding to ghost-esque evil creatures.
“They really like them because they were out of their minds,” he explained. “Propaganda in Russia for dozens of years changed his thinking.”
“Even they didn’t understand what they were doing.”
tactician in disguise
But Kim – the child of teacher parents – is not a full-time jester.
When asked about the alleged Ukrainian retaliation in his territory, he is stone-faced.
All he says is “good condition” on the front line. Making an offensive plan is “not that easy”. And Ukraine is engaged in “active defense”.
“Counter-offensive is a very broad expression,” he says. “It’s going on, that’s all.”
Despite his impressive public persona, he is paying nothing.
There’s a feeling that behind a quick-quipped man is another, who may take the contingency for any deadly serious new twist in the unfolding war with Russia.
He said that some people mistook his lighter part as a sign of weakness.
“That’s not true, because I can smile and I can destroy something.”