This week, Zelenskyy shuttled across the country on a 48-hour train trip to rally soldiers who are battling Russian forces -- and, just as important, to buoy the communities often caught in the crossfire.
Here, about 30 miles from the front lines, Zelenskyy came to see for himself the destruction from a Russian attack that damaged dozens of apartments one week ago.The violence hit just steps from the playground and merry-go-round. One person was killed and 30 others wounded. For Zaporizhzhia, the attack was a reminder of the often arbitrary nature of the threats many Ukrainians face each day as Russian missile strikes stretch beyond the front lines.
That success has led to what Zelenskyy sees as the split-screen "reality of modern war" -- the capital city, where cafes and restaurants are filled, and the grinding, deadly battles in the east and elsewhere along Ukraine's expansive border with Russia. Zelenskyy is not wrong. Moments before his caravan arrives at the apartment block in Zaporizhzhia, air raid sirens ring out across the city. No one flees. No one even flinches.Zelenskyy's travel across Ukraine is a closely guarded secret. His whereabouts typically aren't revealed until after he's already moved on, when his robust government communications team posts photos and video online -- often featuring him speaking to the camera.
Most of Zelenskyy's travel is done by train. He works from a specially outfitted coach car that, from the outside, is indistinguishable from the mass of Ukrainian state rail cars that regularly crisscross the expansive country. Other cars in the train are filled with two- and four-bed sleeper cabins, most occupied by Zelenskyy's travelling advisers, security detail and railway staff.
Still, the high-energy president does occasionally find himself chafing at the restrictions that come with being a wartime leader. After complaining recently about his fading eyesight, he approached his head of security to see if he could get some fresh air. Perhaps some walks outside?They called him a lightweight at first.
Zelenskyy has little down time. He says he stays energized by what he calls "moments of little victories" that provide a respite from the relentless war. The woman he met Tuesday in the liberated town of Trostianets who asked him for a hug. A quick phone call with his young son to talk about a second-place finish in a recent wrestling match.
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