On Monday, the publication TIME announced its selection of the 100 individuals who will be the most important in 2022. The current President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, and his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, have been included on the list. The two individuals were singled out for recognition as “Leaders.” In addition to Zelenskyy, Valerii Zaluzhnyi, the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces, was picked for the “Leaders” category. Sevgil Musaieva, the Chief Editor of the Ukrainian media outlet Ukrainska Pravda, was selected for the “Innovators” category.
The Editor-in-Chief of TIME said, “When our staff comes together to choose the TIME100, the only criterion that matters to us is impact. Who had an impact on the year? Who has just stood up? Who especially stood out? Influence, of course, might either be for the better or for the worst, a contradiction that has never been more apparent than in this year’s TIME100, which has both Vladimir Putin and Volodymyr Zelensky.”
“They represent the extremes of this list and the present time. The Russian leader responsible for a horrific conflict and his adversary, the President of Ukraine, whose leadership has made him a remarkable hero in our contentious period,” said Chief Editor of TIME, Edward Felsenthal.
Interestingly, US President Joe Biden wrote Zelenskyy’s piece. Biden said in the letter that the Ukrainian people have a leader worthy of their courage and perseverance as folks throughout the nation – merchants and soldiers, tailors and truck drivers – battle for their homes and freedom.
“The nations of the free world are more united, more determined, and more focused on their goals than in recent memory,” he wrote.
Elon Musk Secured Second Place
In April, Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla, took a step toward buying Twitter, which is widely regarded as the most prominent social media network in the world. He received 3.5 percent of the votes cast in the election. Edward Felsenthal, the Editor-in-Chief and CEO of TIME, referred to the businessman, who is now 50 years old, as affecting “life on Earth, and maybe life outside Earth too” when he announced the recipient of TIME’s 2021 Person of the Year award in December of this past year.
