The Instagram War: Zelensky Reveals Location in Selfie Video, Declares He Is 'Not Hiding'

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky published a video on Instagram Monday night revealing that he remained in his presidential offices, using his cell phone to record the streets outside and declaring he would not go into hiding amid the ongoing war with Russia.

Zelensky published a similar video on Tuesday morning appearing to stand outside in Kyiv, again asserting that he would not flee the country.

Russian leader Vladimir Putin invaded and colonized parts of eastern Ukraine in 2014. In late February, he announced he would expand the eight-year-old occupation of the country towards the capital in an attempt to “de-Nazify” Ukraine by ousting Zelensky. Russian officials have branded Zelensky a “neo-Nazi president” despite being Jewish and having lost family in the Holocaust.

Since the onslaught against Ukraine began, Zelensky – whose background before politics consisted of acting and television production – has taken to social media to present an image of unified resistance to Russian aggression. Ukraine’s social media arms regularly publish unverified content showing alleged combatants threatening to kill Russians, instructions on how to make Molotov cocktails, and civilians allegedly confronting Russian soldiers.

Zelensky’s personal accounts have regularly published “selfie” videos to combat rumors that he has fled the country and given up on fighting Russia, sometimes including senior officials in an attempt to show that he was not alone.

“I’m staying in Kyiv … on Bankova Street,” Zelensky said in his latest video, filming out the window to show the street across from the presidential palace, recognizable to Ukrainian viewers. Zelensky then walks over to his presidential desk to deliver an address, asserting he was “not hiding, and … not afraid of anyone.”

“Our office, Monday. You know we used to say Monday is a hard day. There is a war in our country, so every day is Monday,” Zelensky lamented, according to his government’s translation. “And now we are used to the fact that every day and every night are like that. … I am in Kyiv. My team is with me. … We are not afraid of you.”

In a second video on Tuesday night, Zelensky appears at street level outside.

Multiple reports since the full-scale invasion began in February have claimed that Zelensky fled to Poland and has lied to Ukrainians about his presence in the capital. Many of those reports originated in Russian media arms and propagated to the state outlets of friendly countries like Iran.

The Russian government has largely abstained from similar social media efforts, instead using official government news sites like Tass, RT, and Sputnik to share its perspective on the war. Unlike Ukrainian media, where Zelensky takes a leading role as a regular source of news, Putin has kept a much lower profile. Zelensky appears to be the central figure in many Russian media reports, as well.

On Tuesday, RT published a report, contrary to statements Zelensky made in his social media videos, that the Ukrainian head of state was seeking “compromise” with Russia. The report was based on an interview with ABC News which, in the West, was largely reported highlighting Zelensky’s personal appeal for dialogue with Putin directly. RT highlighted instead Zelensky stating, “we can discuss this and find a compromise on how these occupied territories and these republics can exist. What’s important for me is how people who want to be a part of Ukraine will live.”

Instead of content centered around Putin, outlets like Sputnik also accuse Ukraine of human rights abuses and circulate conspiracy theories claiming the United States was conducting dangerous bioweapons research in Ukraine, which Putin himself did not use as justification for attacking the country.

In an apparent attempt to keep the Ukrainian content from influencing public opinion in Russia, Moscow banned Facebook from the country during the war and has severely limited access to Twitter. Zelensky, in turn, banned three allegedly pro-Russian television networks from broadcasting in Ukraine in February. He has also not moved to lift a ban on Russian social media networks implemented by predecessor Petro Poroshenko.

Ukraine has one major English-language news site: Ukrinform, which offers a service more similar to Tass than RT and Sputnik. Tass focuses largely on republishing comments from top Kremlin officials, including ministers and presidential spokesperson Dmitry Peskov. Ukrinform has published multiple articles between Monday and Tuesday accusing Russians of war crimes and claiming the Ukrainian military is succeeding in stalling the Russian invasion. Among the crimes Ukrinform attributed to Russian soldiers on Monday were an attack on a school bus, a school stadium, a hospital, and an ecopark.

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