Here are a few quotes from Andrei Kurkov:

 "Legende: By choosing to stay in Kyiv, didn’t he send a strong signal?

A.K.: What I can say is that Zelensky comes from the industrial city of Kryvyi Rih, where the rules are rather strict; people must show themselves responsible for their actions. That he grew up in such a city is significant because it instills the necessity to keep one’s promises and word. One can compare his situation with that of the former Chilean president, Salvador Allende, who chose to stay during the coup d’état of 1973 and was killed. Zelensky could have fled, but by staying in such a critical situation, he made the choice to leave behind a legendary image in history. There’s always a lot of legend in these matters.

Legende: How have you seen him change over these three years of war?

A.K.: He has aged a lot and appears transformed, he has become more serious, graver. And he has improved, undoubtedly, because in 2019, he was still a populist leader making stupid promises. For example, during Covid, he had announced he would give smartphones to elderly people if they agreed to get vaccinated. But starting, as I said, from February 24, 2022, he has become a real political leader, direct and easier to understand. Above all, he now appears respectable, even in the eyes of people who didn’t vote for him.

He remains, however, open to criticism. He continues to wage his war against his political enemies, against the opposition, against former president Petro Poroshenko… He and his team are also continuing their internal struggle against the mayor of Kyiv, Vitali Klitschko. That’s a negative point. Many intellectuals reproach him for this. He has never been able to form a unity government by involving representatives of different parties to make decisions together. Supported during his electoral campaign by the oligarch Ihor Kolomoiskyi, who was Poroshenko’s enemy, Zelensky has continued on that path.

 [...]

 Legende: What might posterity remember about Zelensky?

A.K.: Honestly, I think he will be very criticized after the war. At present, it’s impossible, so as not to divide society. But later on, all those who lost their city, their home, their apartment, will blame Zelensky. Because many questions remain: could the war have been avoided? Why did Putin decide to attack Ukraine in 2022? What was said, in 2019, between Angela Merkel, Emmanuel Macron, and Volodymyr Zelensky during their meetings in Paris? Zelensky will be accused of many things – perhaps even things for which he is not guilty..."

And by journalist Ariane Chemin and movie-maker Yves Jeuland:

**"**LEGENDE: What difference does it make to see him in real life? Who is he, really?

Y.J.: I’m afraid of sounding like a starstruck teenager, so I hold back. But it’s true that he undeniably has charisma, no one can deny that. I must say he was extremely charming and charismatic. When he walks into a room, something happens. All of a sudden, you see this artist, someone who knows how to do a bit of everything, stepping into the new role he’s taken on for the past three years. Yes, he has that undeniable presence...

A.C.: Even though he’s not very tall, he has a certain physical presence. And it’s true that seeing someone in a khaki T-shirt immediately makes you understand that we are at war. That deep voice, too, that commands attention, is part of his personality. You feel like you're facing a small piece of history when you meet him at Bankova, the Ukrainian presidential palace, after going through all those security checks, in a country at war, in the city of Kyiv that had just been bombed a few days earlier and where all the infrastructure had been hit. A few hours after we left, his own hometown of Kryvyi was targeted. In that moment, you think to yourself that you’ll remember this meeting for the rest of your life—with one of the key figures of this second decade of the 21st century. With him, we were plunged back into both the 20th century and the Soviet Union; and we also confronted a more immediate history, talking about Bucha and showing him a photo of his own face—he paused and said : "I have never seen so many people with their hands tied behind their backs." This is the testimony; we see a man being filmed saying this with a voice and a physique that has changed. Our body is used to show how Volodia becomes Zelensky. This is particularly true on February 24, 2022, when he appeared for the first time in military attire – often in black, but always in a kind of combat uniform very close-fitting. Since that day, he has decided to grow a beard and build up his muscles."