MykhailoFedorov

Since Russia invaded his country, Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has used social media to speak directly to his citizens and to those abroad, using the small screen to forge connection and intimacy, building sympathy and solidarity. It’s the same approach he took to campaigning for the presidency in 2019 — instead of press conferences and rallies, Zelensky tapped Instagram and Facebook. The mastermind behind Zelensky’s social media approach was Mykhailo Fedorov, a young digital marketing expert who is now Ukraine’s minister of digital transformation, tasked with using technology to unblock Ukraine’s famously inefficient post-Soviet bureaucracy. With his typical duties upended by the war, he’s become Ukraine’s ambassador to the tech community, pressuring big tech to cut Russia off, convincing Elon Musk to help keep the country online, and rallying volunteers for cyber defense.