The speeches delivered by Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy since the Russian invasion of his country will now be compiled in the form of a book that is set to be published in December, news agency Associated Press reported. “A Message from Ukraine” will have a collection of 16 wartime speeches by Zelenskyy, the report said.
According to an announcement made to this effect by Crown, a Penguin Random House division, the book will feature an introduction written by Zelenskyy. To be launched on December 6, it will also have a preface by Arkady Ostrovsky, the Economist's editor for Russia and Eastern Europe, the report said.
“Supporting Ukraine is not a trend, a meme or a viral challenge," Zelenskyy was quoted as saying in the statement issued by Crown. He added: "It is not a force to rapidly spread across the planet and then just as rapidly disappear. If you want to understand who we are, where we are from, what we want and where we are going, you need to learn more about who we are. This book will help you do just that.”
The publisher said the proceeds from the book would go to United24, the initiative launched by Zelenskyy to coordinate all charitable donations coming to Ukraine. The president is said to have chosen the 16 speeches that he hopes would help readers “understand Ukrainians: our aspirations, our principles, and our values”.
On its website, the Penguin Random House has called the book “an urgent call to arms from the Ukrainian leader whose unwavering courage in the face of the Russian invasion has inspired the world and turned him overnight into a global beacon of democracy”.
It also said the book is the "story of a people leading the world in the struggle for democracy".
Elected for the top job in 2019, Zelenskyy, formerly an actor and comedian, suddenly became a war-time leader when Russia invaded Ukraine in February 2022.