Ukrainian Presidential Press Office via The Associated Press
As the war in Ukraine is carried out, I pray for the safety of the Ukrainian people, especially the women and children, some of whom have come under attack by the Russian forces of Vladimir Putin.
I have found it interesting that the president of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelensky, is the namesake of the Russian president, Vladimir Putin. These first names of both men are merely different forms of the same word. I checked to see what the two names meant when translated, it was illuminating. Both names can mean “renowned prince” or on a more frightening level, “ruler of the world.”
It looks as though the Russian dictator has taken the meaning of his name quite literally as he attempts to rebuild the former “Mother Russia” by reigning in the numerous satellite countries that were formed at the collapse of the Soviet Union in the late 1980s. From what I have read recently and in the past “Vlad the Invader” took the fall of the Soviet Union quite personally.
Vladimir is directing the Russian troops from a safe distance, with his two billion in personal wealth, whom some consider to be the richest man in the world. As wealth is power, the two hundred billion makes the Russian president the most powerful man on our planet, coupled with the name Vladimir, “ruler of the world,” creates an absolute tyranny of the most despicable kind.
Putin, once a Soviet KGB agent, has been accused of corruption, plagiarism, and murder. To give a summation of his character, when meeting with New England Patriots team owner Robert Kraft, Putin noticed Kraft’s Super Bowl Championship ring and asked if he could see it. Kraft obliged, handed the ring to Putin, who after a brief conversation, put the ring on his finger, did an about face, then proceeded to walk off with the trophy, accompanied by his bodyguards.
Putin has now been accused of war crimes in the Ukraine and is currently being investigated by the International Criminal Court for the killing of civilians, including children. Russian troops have also bombed and destroyed a Jewish holocaust memorial museum in Ukraine, and I feel that this was a personal message from Vladimir to Volodymyr, the latter being Jewish.
President Zelensky came from a different background than his Russian namesake, that of a comedian and television star, most notably from the series called “Servant of the People.” This fictional program featured a history teacher who becomes the president of Ukraine in which the main character, played by Volodymyr, gives a volatile speech against the corruption of the Ukrainian government, which went viral on the internet. Due to his popularity and his frustrations, Zelensky actually decides to run for office, under the banner of “Servant of the People,” using the television show’s name. He won the presidential election with 73 percent of the vote in December of 2017, with the promise of stepping down after one term.
In Zelensky’s inauguration speech, he dissolved the corrupt Ukrainian Parliament, forbidding the old incumbents from running for election again, which was later reformed by fresh, newly elected officials. This purge all seems well and good, but curiously Zelensky has appointed many of his fellow comedians to “Deputy Heads’’ of government departments, to include the Ukrainian Secret Service. I’m not sure that I would feel secure with the likes of a Phyllis Diller or a Pee-wee Herman heading up the CIA.
Regardless of his perhaps ironic appointments, Volodymyr has been hailed in the world press as a hero for his vow to remain in Ukraine with his people while the war rages, making him a “Renowned Prince.” On the other hand, Vladimir has become even more of a pariah to the world due his invasion of the innocent, which belong to a democratic country, living up to the notion, “Ruler of the World.”
Getting back to the conversation between Robert Kraft and Putin, as Putin put the Super Bowl ring on his finger, he exclaimed to Kraft, “I could kill someone with this ring,” to which Kraft retorted, “You (Putin) could kill someone without it. You were the head of the KGB.” Putin then slipped the nearly five carat diamond ring into his pocket and sauntered off.
David Kittredge is a regular Lifestyles contributor to the Eagle Times. You can send comments to him via the editor at [email protected].
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