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Volodymyr Zelensky in an olive shirt, 2022 official portrait

Ukraine · 2022

We are here

My vsi tut!

Ukrainian, transliterated: “We are all here.” The core idea of the 25 February 2022 video, recorded on a street in Kyiv; according to adviser Dmytro Lytvyn, unscripted.

In 2022, with Russian troops near Kyiv, Zelensky filmed a street video to prove he had not fled. See what a campaign can learn from this wartime communication.

A tribute to the people of Ukraine who lived and are living through this war, and to those, inside and outside government, who kept the country informed. An independent project, with no link to the Ukrainian government, the Presidency or any party.

In 30 seconds

  1. At least 9 foreign parliaments heard Zelensky between March 8 and 24, 2022; he stayed in Kyiv and addressed the nation every night.

  2. About $4 billion raised: what the official UNITED24 platform reported in October 2026.

  3. Short daily videos to prove presence, speeches written for each audience's history with a concrete ask, and resources through official, transparent channels.

  4. Speak every day in the same voice, never lie, adapt the message without changing the substance, and ask someone named for something specific.

  5. Crisis trust wears out if communication turns into mere propaganda.

First steps

  1. Choose the main official channel and a back-up channel
  2. Set up the writing core: writer, fact-checking editor and the external desk person
  3. Name two or three back-up spokespeople and write the key messages

Try it now Adapt it with the coach

If you're new to this, start with the fundamentals, from the vote goal to what the research says. Read the fundamentals

Who did it

This playbook starts from what those responsible said and published themselves: the Presidency's official messages and speeches,…

This playbook starts from what those responsible said and published themselves: the Presidency's official messages and speeches, speechwriter Dmytro Lytvyn's written answers to former White House speechwriter James Fallows, interviews with Mykhailo Podolyak and Mykhailo Fedorov, and the official pages of the Center for Countering Disinformation and UNITED24. Press and surveys confirm facts and figures.

  • Volodymyr Zelensky

    President of Ukraine since 2019; former actor and producer at Kvartal 95

    Stayed in Kyiv, recorded messages to the country several times a day in the first week and, according to his own team, sets the structure and core ideas of almost every speech.

    Sources

  • Dmytro Lytvyn

    Adviser to the Head of the Office of the President; lead speechwriter

    Writes the daily messages and political speeches; explained in writing how the team adapts texts for foreign audiences.

    Sources

  • Mykhailo Podolyak

    Adviser to the Head of the Office of the President

    Revealed in June 2022 who makes up the writing group and how work is split between the president, the writers and the editors.

    Sources

  • Yuriy Kostyuk and Andriy Sybiha

    Speechwriter (former Kvartal 95 screenwriter) and deputy head of the Office for international affairs

    Part of the writing core: Kostyuk on speeches for special occasions, Sybiha on the diplomatic reading of each country.

    Sources

  • Mykhailo Fedorov

    Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Digital Transformation (2019–2026); Defence Minister Jan–Jul 2026

    Opened the digital front: letters and public posts to Apple, Google, Netflix and others, the ask to Elon Musk for Starlink, and the Diia app adapted for war.

    Sources

  • Polina Lysenko and Andriy Shapovalov

    First director and acting director of the Center for Countering Disinformation (CCD), under the National Security and Defence Council

    Built and ran the body that monitors disinformation channels and campaigns and produces analysis for the government and partners.

    Sources

  • UNITED24 (coordinated by Yaroslava Gres)

    Official donation platform created by the Presidency on 5 May 2022

    Brought donations together at a single official address, with six destinations, weekly reports and external audits.

    Sources

  • Simon Shuster

    Time journalist, author of The Showman (2024)

    Followed the presidential office's routine for months and described the team's daily life in the bunker in the first weeks.

    Sources

In their own words

What the team and those responsible said about their own decisions.

What the team and those responsible said about their own decisions. Paraphrases, unless in quotation marks.

  • The first rule of a speech is to “never lie in speeches”; the second, to respect the audience and understand what it feels.

    Dmytro Lytvyn, speechwriter, Written answers to James Fallows, Breaking the News, 27 Dec 2022

  • The core message has to be “very simple, very candid, very audible”.

    Dmytro Lytvyn, speechwriter, Breaking the News, 27 Dec 2022

  • The 25 February video recorded in the street was unscripted: that was simply him.

    Dmytro Lytvyn, speechwriter, Breaking the News, 27 Dec 2022

  • For foreign audiences the team sometimes picks the key English phrases first and builds the text around them, testing how they sound in translation; in the US Congress the president spoke English because the goal was to thank Americans.

    Dmytro Lytvyn, speechwriter, Breaking the News, 27 Dec 2022

6 more quotes

  • Zelensky is the author of the main ideas and designs the structure of almost every message; the group handles the wording and a team of editors reviews the final version.

    Mykhailo Podolyak, adviser, Babel, 22 Jun 2022

  • The president arrives at the meeting with about 80% of the speech in his head; before speaking to another country, the office consults embassies and follows the local press.

    Unnamed team sources, to the Kyiv Post, Kyiv Post, Who Prepares Zelensky's Amazing Speeches?, 28 May 2023

  • To companies still operating in Russia: “It is time to take a side.”

    Mykhailo Fedorov, digital minister, Boston Globe, 12 Mar 2022

  • In war, time is one of the most valuable resources; the team worked day and night from an undisclosed location.

    Mykhailo Fedorov, digital minister, Interview with Malayala Manorama, 14 Mar 2022

  • When the big ones leave, the smaller ones follow; that is why it paid to start with the best-known brands.

    Mykhailo Fedorov, digital minister, Vice, interview at Web Summit, Nov 2022

  • Presenting the centre to diplomats, she said the truth would be the main weapon of its work.

    Polina Lysenko, CCD director, Presidency of Ukraine, 6 Apr 2021

The story

In the first hours of the invasion, many governments expected Kyiv to fall within days and the president to leave the country.

In the first hours of the invasion, many governments expected Kyiv to fall within days and the president to leave the country. Instead, the office settled into a bunker on Bankova Street, the president began speaking to the country several times a day, and a small team built within weeks the communication system described here.

9
foreign parliaments heard Zelensky between 8 and 24 March 2022official
2 days
between Fedorov's post to Elon Musk and the arrival of the first Starlinks (26–28 Feb 2022)campaign figure
$4bn
raised by UNITED24, according to the platform's counter in Oct 2026platform figure
51%
of Ukrainians had Telegram as their main news source in 2025study

From the first night to the fifth year

  1. 24 Feb 2022Russia invades. In the evening, Zelensky speaks of a new Iron Curtain, asks Russians to protest and warns Europeans that the war may knock on their door.
  2. 25 FebFedorov sends letters to Apple, Google and Netflix asking them to restrict services in Russia. The president asks Europe for concrete measures, such as cutting Russia off from SWIFT. At night, he records in the street the video that proves he is in Kyiv.
  3. 26 FebFedorov asks Elon Musk for Starlink in a public post; the terminals arrive two days later. The joint TV telethon begins. The press reports that Zelensky turned down offers of evacuation.
  4. 8–24 MarSpeeches to nine parliaments, each built on the country's own history: Hamlet and British resistance in London, Pearl Harbor and Martin Luther King in Washington, the Wall in Berlin, Chornobyl in Tokyo.
  5. 5 May 2022The Presidency launches UNITED24, with famous ambassadors and public reports for each spending area.
  6. Jul 2022The CCD publishes a list of people accused of repeating Russian narratives, including Western academics and politicians; after the controversy, the list is taken off the website without official explanation.
  7. 21 Dec 2022In Washington, in person, a speech in English to the US Congress, comparing the battle for Bakhmut to Saratoga and the Battle of the Bulge.
  8. 28 Feb 2025The Oval Office meeting with Trump and Vance ends in a live shouting match. Hours later, Zelensky publicly thanks the American people and Congress; military aid is suspended on 3 March and resumed after the Jeddah meeting on 11 March.
  9. Jul 2025A law stripping the anti-corruption bodies of their independence triggers the first anti-government protests since the invasion. Within nine days, the president proposes and signs another law reversing it.
  10. Nov 2025–Oct 2026In November 2025 chief of staff Andriy Yermak resigns after his flat is searched in an investigation into embezzlement at the state nuclear power company; as of January 2026 he had not been charged. Kyrylo Budanov replaces him on 2 Jan 2026. Fedorov, Defence Minister for six months, leaves in a government reshuffle announced on 15 Jul 2026, and protests demand his return. The war goes on, and so do the daily messages.

Three layers

A tiny central voice, linked to state institutions and to a society that shared and completed the message.

  • The voiceThe president and a core of three or four people (Lytvyn, Kostyuk, Sybiha and editors) who prepare the daily message and the speeches, with the president setting the ideas.
  • The networked stateMinistries with their own channels: Fedorov and the digital front, the CCD monitoring disinformation, UNITED24 handling donations, embassies reading each country.
  • The amplifiersBroadcasters, volunteers, the diaspora, UNITED24's famous ambassadors and allied governments that carried the message to audiences the office could not reach.
What isn't known. This is the communication of a government at war, with the country united against an invader, conditions no election campaign has.

The line “I need ammunition, not a ride” was attributed to Zelensky in press reports on 26 February 2022; no recording or confirmation from him could be found, so it stays out of the method. Accounts of the writing team's work come partly from anonymous sources (Kyiv Post) and from a single written testimony (Lytvyn). Simon Shuster's book The Showman and Time's 2022 cover story could not be consulted directly; this page relies on published reviews and excerpts. The UNITED24 figure is the platform's own counter. Telegram surveys diverge: 51% use it as their main source (Rating/EUAM, 2025), but trust ranges from 29% to 47% depending on the question. There is no public measurement of the speeches' effect on each parliament's decisions, nor of the CCD's impact.

The terrain

What was specific to Ukraine at war, and what you need to swap if your case is different.

What was specific to Ukraine at war, and what you need to swap if your case is different.

Platforms

Telegram
It was already the main news app before the war and became one of the official channels of the president and the government. In 2025, 51% of Ukrainians named it their main news source (Rating/EUAM). Trust lags behind use, and anonymous channels sit alongside official ones.
Short phone-recorded video
The format of the messages: the president in a recognisable place, in field clothes, speaking for a few minutes. Posted on Telegram, Instagram, Facebook and YouTube, with a transcript on the official website.
The Presidency's website (president.gov.ua)
Archive of every message and speech, in Ukrainian and English, with date and time. A source for journalists and translators worldwide.
Video link to parliaments
In March 2022 Zelensky spoke by video to lawmakers in the UK, Canada, the US, Germany, Israel, Italy, Japan, France and Sweden, almost one a day, broadcast live in each country.
X (Twitter)
Fedorov's and the government's channel for speaking directly to foreign companies, executives and journalists. The ask to Elon Musk for Starlink was a public post.
United News TV telethon
Since 26 Feb 2022, the main channels have broadcast a joint news programme. It brought unity at first; later it lost audience and trust and was criticised by the European Commission in 2024.
Starlink and Diia
Satellite internet terminals (about 20,000 by Nov 2022, according to Fedorov) kept people online when the network went down; the state Diia app gained wartime features, such as reporting damage and paying displaced people.
UNITED24
A single, official address for donations from all over the world, with destinations chosen by the donor and weekly reports. Before it, Fedorov’s ministry had already set up a cryptocurrency donation fund, which had raised more than $60 million for the military by 12 March 2022, according to the Boston Globe.

Local conditions

  • A full-scale invasion: communication served to keep the state standing, mobilise the country and secure weapons, sanctions and money from abroad. No election was at stake.
  • Martial law since 24 Feb 2022, which bans elections while in force; the presidential election due in 2024 did not take place.
  • A president with 20 years of stage and TV experience, used to reading a crowd and speaking to camera.
  • Very high national unity at first: over 90% backed the president's actions at the end of February 2022, according to polls cited on Wikipedia.
  • Huge global attention in the first weeks, which then faded: in June 2022 only four leaders turned up to a virtual meeting with the African Union.
  • Constant Russian disinformation campaigns, including rumours that the president had fled or surrendered.
  • Digital infrastructure that was already advanced: a government services app, digital-native ministers, a large IT community and an active diaspora.
  • A press under wartime pressure: TV channels merged into a state-funded telethon and allegations of pressure from the presidential office on critical outlets.

The method

Behind the apparent improvisation there were three simple rules, repeated every day: be present, speak the language of those listening, and…

Behind the apparent improvisation there were three simple rules, repeated every day: be present, speak the language of those listening, and ask for something concrete. A campaign is not at war, but it faces smaller versions of the same questions: how to prove you are there, how to speak to different audiences without contradicting yourself, how to turn attention into support.

Three fronts

Presence as proof
The face, the place and the time in the video answer the rumour before it grows. The daily message creates a fixed appointment: people know when and where to hear the official voice.
Each audience, its own speech
The same cause told through the listener's history: Pearl Harbor for Americans, the Wall for Germans, Chornobyl for the Japanese. Research beforehand with embassies and native speakers, and a different ask for each.
Attention that becomes resources
Every appearance ends with an ask addressed to someone: a company, a government, a donor. And there is an official, transparent channel to respond: a letter, a post, a donation platform.

The cycle of a day

The rhythm of the war's first phase, adaptable to a campaign's final stretch or to a crisis.

  1. Listen In the morning, the team's first video call (at 7 a.m., according to Shuster): what happened overnight, what rumours are circulating, what each country is discussing.
  2. Decide the message of the day One central idea, simple and true. The leader sets the structure; the writing team writes and adds facts and references.
  3. Ask Throughout the day, named public asks: letters and posts to companies, calls to leaders, speeches with an ask at the end.
  4. Adapt For each foreign audience, a reference from its history, key phrases tested in its language and the ask it can actually grant.
  5. Record short A few minutes, a recognisable place, no studio set. If it is to deny a rumour, the video is the proof.
  6. Publish on your own channel First on Telegram and the official website, with text and translation; then social media, TV and the press pick it up.
  7. Thank and report back Name who helped and show what the money or the decision produced: weekly reports on UNITED24, thanks by name in the messages.
  8. Start again at night The evening message closes the day with a summary and what comes next, and sets the appointment for the following day.

And again.

Toolkit

The Ukrainian system taken apart into pieces that a campaign, a cause or a local government can assemble on a smaller scale.

The Ukrainian system taken apart into pieces that a campaign, a cause or a local government can assemble on a smaller scale. Press and roles get the most detail.

Choose your country to see the equivalent tools and the legal points to check.

Operations

A tiny writing core, close to the leader, and specialised desks that work without asking permission at every step. They spoke every day and followed up every ask.

Roles

Main voice
The leader or candidate. Sets the core ideas and structure of each talk, records every day and does not delegate the evening message. Arrives at the writing meeting with most of what they want to say.
Political writer (daily message)
Writes the day's remarks, polishing what the leader brought and adding verified facts. In the Ukrainian case, Dmytro Lytvyn.
Special-occasions writer
Speeches for specific audiences: students, festivals, unions, churches. In Ukraine, Yuriy Kostyuk, a former screenwriter.
External audiences desk
For each new audience, researches its agenda and history (embassies, local press, community leaders) and suggests the right reference and ask. Includes review by native speakers.
Editor and fact-check
Reviews the final version, checks every number and every name. Applies the “never lie” rule: if it is not confirmed, it does not go in.
Public asks desk
The Fedorov model: a list of targets (companies, officials, organisations), a formal letter and a public post for each, follow-up by direct message and a spreadsheet of replies.
Rapid rumour response
Monitors channels and networks and separates rumour from legitimate criticism. A small rumour that has not reached your audience is not amplified. A rumour already circulating among the people who decide is answered with proof (video, document, data) within hours, and then you return to your topic. Predictable attacks (flight, illness, resignation) are pre-empted. Keeps no lists of critics.
Donations and accountability
A single official address, clear destinations, regular reports and audits. Also manages the well-known supporters who ask on the cause's behalf.
Back-up spokespeople
Two or three people authorised to speak when the leader cannot: interviews, foreign press, debates. In Ukraine, advisers such as Podolyak and the chief of staff.
Translation, subtitles and archive
A transcript of every talk on the website the same day, in at least two languages, with date and time. It is what journalists quote.

Rhythm

  1. 7 a.m.: morning meetingA short video call: situation, overnight rumours, the day's agenda of asks, who talks to whom.
  2. Morning: asksThe asks desk sends letters and publishes the day's posts; the external desk prepares the next speech.
  3. During the day: rapid responseRelevant rumours are answered with proof within a few hours, on the official channel.
  4. Late afternoon: the evening textThe leader sets the ideas; the writer writes; the editor checks. A short recording.
  5. Night: daily messagePublished on the official channel with a transcript. In 2022 many went out around midnight, after a day of phone calls.
  6. WeeklyA major speech to a new audience (in March 2022, almost a parliament a day), a public donations report and a review of the asks list.

In the first week the president published up to three messages a day. Over time the rhythm settled into one daily message plus occasional speeches, and in 2026 the Presidency was still publishing about 300 talks a year. Pick a rhythm you can keep up for months, not days.

Plan B

  • More than one channel of your own: if a platform goes down or restricts you, the same message is already on the website, on a second app and by email.
  • Back-up connection: Ukraine used satellite internet; in a campaign, a 4G router from another carrier and an alternative recording location.
  • Record anywhere: a phone, natural light, a recognisable background. Nothing that depends on a studio.
  • Trained back-up spokespeople with written key messages, in case the leader becomes unavailable.
  • A proof video ready for predictable rumours (fleeing, illness, resignation): know where and how to record it in minutes.
  • A public archive of transcripts: if a video is edited or faked, the dated original is on the website.

Technology

Ordinary tools, used every day, with everything coming from official, identifiable channels.

  • Official Telegram channel (or WhatsApp Channels)Free

    One message a day from the leader, plus alerts. In Ukraine, Telegram; in Brazil, WhatsApp Channels.

  • Short vertical videoFree

    Recorded on a phone and posted to Instagram, TikTok, YouTube Shorts and Facebook, always with subtitles.

  • Website with an archive of talksLow cost

    A transcript of every message with date, time and translation. The primary source for the press.

  • Video calls for outside audiencesFree to low cost

    Remote speeches to parliaments, councils, assemblies, unions. Test sound and simultaneous interpretation beforehand.

  • Public X and LinkedIn accounts for asksFree

    Where executives, journalists and foreign officials are. Posts naming the recipient and a concrete ask.

  • Public asks spreadsheetFree

    Each ask, to whom, through which channel, the reply and the next step (columns below).

  • Monitoring of networks and channelsFree to paid

    News alerts and a daily search of public channels to catch rumours early. The CCD followed about 500 Telegram channels in 2023.

  • Official donation platformPlatform fees

    The UNITED24 model: one address, destinations chosen by the donor, weekly reports and external audits. In a campaign, the platform allowed by election law.

  • Back-up internetEquipment + subscription

    Satellite in a war; in a campaign, a mobile router from another carrier.

  • Encrypted messenger for the teamFree

    This playbook's recommendation: coordinate the core through an app with end-to-end encryption and disappearing messages.

Channel cheat sheets

Columns of the public asks spreadsheet

Date · Recipient (person and organisation) · Concrete ask · Why they can grant it · Channel (letter, post, direct message, speech) · Public link · Reply · Reply date · Next step · Owner · Thanks given (yes/no)

The Ukrainian writing core had three or four people; the main cost was time and access. There is no public data on the Presidency's communication budget. UNITED24 says it transfers 100% of donations to National Bank accounts and is audited by Deloitte and BDO. For a campaign, the minimum is a good phone, a lapel mic, a writer, an editor who checks facts and someone to handle the asks.

Communication

Two pieces make the case: the daily message for the home audience and the tailored speech for those who can help. Both follow Lytvyn's rule: simple, candid, easy to hear, and never lie.

The formula for a speech to an outside audience

  1. Thank by name Who helped, with what, when. Then the ask.
  2. A reference from their history An episode the audience recognises and feels as its own: Pearl Harbor, the Wall, Chornobyl. Researched with people who know the country, never invented.
  3. What happened today A concrete, recent fact, with place and verified numbers. Sometimes a short video, as in Congress in March 2022.
  4. Why it is their problem too What is at stake for the listeners: their security, their values, their word.
  5. The concrete ask One or two things that audience can decide: a sanction, a piece of equipment, a vote, a donation. If the bigger ask is impossible, the alternative.
  6. Close with a memorable line Short, in their language, something the press can quote. That line is often written first.

Message rules

  • Never lie, not even out of optimism. The TV telethon lost trust when it started to look like nothing but good news.
  • Show where you are: place and time in a video are worth more than any written denial.
  • Same voice, same time: people need to know when to hear the official version.
  • One ask per talk, with a recipient. “Help us” moves no one; “Apple, stop selling in Russia” did.
  • Adapt the reference, not the substance: what you tell each audience must be consistent with what you tell the others.
  • Thank in public, even after a clash. In February 2025, after the Oval Office, the first response was to thank Americans.
  • Debunk with proof, not adjectives; and do not confuse criticism with disinformation.
  • Listen to the street: when the July 2025 protests exposed a mistake, the answer was to change the law, not just the speech.

Sample evening message (adapted for a campaign)

Good evening. It's ten at night and I'm here at the campaign office, downtown; you can see the square behind me. Today a rumour went round that I was dropping out. I'm not. I'm here, with the same team, and tomorrow at eight I'll be at the North market, as scheduled. Three things from today: 412 volunteers went out on the streets, the Jardim Esperança residents' association endorsed us (thank you, Lúcia), and the city hall still hasn't answered our request for a public hearing on transport. So tomorrow's ask is just one: email the council tonight asking for the hearing; the link is in the channel. Good night, and see you tomorrow, same time.

Take it to your context

A government at war is not a campaign.

A government at war is not a campaign. But several pieces work anywhere; others depended on the war and need swapping.

Works anywhere

  • A fixed appointment: a short message from the leader, every day, on the same channel and at the same time.
  • Prove presence with images (place, time, face) rather than press releases.
  • A small writing core, close to the leader, with an editor who checks everything.
  • Write for each audience from its own history and interests, with prior research.
  • End every talk with a concrete ask, to a named someone.
  • Thank people in public and report back on what their support produced.
  • A single official donation channel, transparent and auditable.
  • Have a plan B for channel, connection and spokesperson before you need it.

Depends on context

Telegram as the dominant channel
Use the app that dominates among your audience: WhatsApp Channels in Brazil and much of Latin America, Instagram or TikTok among younger people, email and radio where connectivity is weak.
Speeches to foreign parliaments
In a campaign, the audiences are city councils, unions, churches, associations, universities. The method is the same: their history, the ask they can grant.
Asks to big tech (the Fedorov model)
Swap in local companies, organisations or officials who can decide something on your agenda. A formal letter plus a public post, always with a feasible ask.
Wartime national unity
No campaign gets that rally effect. Expect active opponents and more distrust: the never-lie rule weighs even more.
State counter-disinformation centre
In a campaign, a small rapid-response team and partnerships with independent fact-checkers. Never lists of critics.
UNITED24 (a state platform)
Use the fundraising platform your country's election law allows, with receipts, limits and accountability; in Brazil, the TSE's rules on crowdfunding.
Government communication
If you are in government and there is an election, the law separates the two: in Brazil, Law 9.504/1997 (art. 73) restricts institutional advertising during the election period. Do not use official channels to campaign.

Moves to take with you

Pick the moves that fit your context and add them to your kit.

Pick the moves that fit your context and add them to your kit. Each one works on its own or combined with moves from other playbooks.

  1. A daily appointment with proof of presence

    A short message from the leader every day, on the same channel at the same time, filmed somewhere recognisable: face, place and time answer the rumour before it grows. In Ukraine, the street video of 25 February 2022 disproved claims that the president had fled.

    How to set it up, step by step
    Works when
    It works in a crisis or a final stretch, when rumours circulate about the leader and the public needs to know where to hear the official version.
    Don't use when
    It fails if the message becomes only good news or propaganda, because crisis trust wears out, or with a pace you cannot keep up for months.
    1. Week −4 Choose the main owned channel and a second channel carrying the same message
    2. Week −2 Prepare backup connection, an alternative filming spot and backup spokespeople
    3. D-day week Fix the time and post the first short message, with place and time visible
    4. D-day week At 7am, gather the team: situation, overnight rumours, message of the day
    5. D-day week Answer within hours, with video or a document, any rumour that has reached decision-makers
    6. 1 week(s) after Publish the dated transcript on the website, in two languages, every day
    7. 2 week(s) after Settle into a sustainable pace: one daily message plus occasional speeches

    Team

    • Main voice: sets the ideas and films every day
    • Political writer: drafts the day's remarks with verified facts
    • Rapid response: monitors rumours and separates them from legitimate criticism
    • Archive and subtitles: publishes the dated transcript in two languages

    What to measure: People who did what the day's message asked (came to an action, signed up, donated), counted with a link or form specific to each message.

    Risks to watch: Lying out of optimism destroys credibility: if it is not confirmed, say so; and check the video background so you never reveal the location of someone under threat.

  2. A tailored speech that ends with an ask

    The same cause told through the listeners' own history, with key lines tested in their language and an ask that audience can meet. Between 8 and 24 March 2022, Zelensky addressed nine parliaments with references such as Pearl Harbor, the Wall and Chernobyl.

    How to set it up, step by step
    Works when
    It works when there are audiences with decision-making power (councils, unions, churches, associations) willing to listen.
    Don't use when
    It fails if the reference is invented or poorly researched, or if what you tell one audience contradicts what you tell another.
    1. 1 week(s) after List the audiences that can decide something on your agenda
    2. 1 week(s) after For each, research its agenda and history with people who know that audience
    3. 2 week(s) after Choose the reference, the key line and a feasible ask
    4. 2 week(s) after Write it: thanks, reference, today's fact, why it matters to them, ask, closing line
    5. 2 week(s) after Review with a native speaker and with the editor who checks every number
    6. 3 week(s) after Log the ask and follow up on the audience's response

    Team

    • External audiences desk: researches each audience's history and agenda
    • Special-occasions writer: drafts the tailored speech
    • Editor and fact-check: verifies numbers and names before it goes out

    What to measure: Asks made in speeches that the audience accepted (a vote, a decision, formal backing), logged in the asks sheet.

    Risks to watch: A wrong reference offends, and inconsistency between audiences becomes ammunition for opponents: research with people who know the country and adapt the reference, never the content.

  3. A public ask, by name, to a named target

    A list of targets who can decide something (companies, officials, organisations), with a formal letter and a public post for each, follow-up and a response sheet. In 2022, Fedorov's post to Elon Musk brought the first Starlink terminals to Ukraine in two days.

    How to set it up, step by step
    Works when
    It works when the ask is feasible, the recipient is known and your cause has public attention at that moment.
    Don't use when
    It fails with vague asks (“help us”), or when a public ask turns into harassment or branding as enemies those who said no.
    1. D-day week Build the target list and a feasible ask for each
    2. D-day week Write the formal letter and the public post, with a name and a concrete ask
    3. D-day week Post and send on the same day, on the channel where the recipient is
    4. D-day week Follow up by direct message and log every reply in the sheet
    5. 1 week(s) after Thank those who delivered, publicly and by name
    6. 2 week(s) after Start with the best-known names: when the big ones move, the smaller follow

    Team

    • Public asks desk: keeps the target list, letters and posts
    • Follow-up: chases each ask and logs replies and next steps
    • Main voice: signs the most important asks

    What to measure: Recipients who answered the ask with a concrete decision, counted in the public-asks sheet.

    Risks to watch: Public pressure can become persecution: respond to decisions, not people, and never publish lists of those who refused.

  4. One official donation channel

    A single official address, destinations the donor chooses, regular reports and an external audit, with well-known supporters asking on behalf of the cause. UNITED24 showed about $4 billion raised in October 2026 and says it passes 100% to National Bank accounts.

    How to set it up, step by step
    Works when
    It works when the attention generated by messages and speeches needs to become resources, and people at home or abroad are willing to give.
    Don't use when
    It fails with several competing addresses, which open the door to scams, or without accounting for what the money achieved.
    1. Week −2 Check with a lawyer which platform electoral or donation law allows
    2. 4 week(s) after Open a single official address and announce it on every owned channel
    3. 6 week(s) after Set clear destinations the donor can choose
    4. 9 week(s) after Publish the first report and keep to the schedule
    5. 10 week(s) after Invite well-known supporters to ask on behalf of the cause
    6. 12 week(s) after Show what each destination achieved and thank people by name

    Team

    • Donations and accountability: runs the address, reports and audit
    • Legal: confirms limits, receipts and donation rules
    • Ambassadors: well-known supporters who ask on behalf of the cause

    What to measure: Number of donors and amount received per destination, published in the regular report.

    Risks to watch: Scams with fake addresses and unlawful money: one official channel, receipts, legal limits and an audit; donor data only with consent.

Practice

Rehearse with the case's missions and situations.

Decide like the office

Six real moments. Choose what you would do and see what happened.

Plan in 5 phases

How to build this system for a campaign, a cause or a crisis.

How to build this system for a campaign, a cause or a crisis. Your progress is saved in this browser.

  1. Before the crisis (weeks ahead)

  2. First 72 hours

  3. First month: rhythm

  4. The months after: sustaining trust

  5. Review

Rules

Each rule below protects the credibility that crisis communication depends on.

Each rule below protects the credibility that crisis communication depends on.

Never lie
Not about numbers, not about what happened, not out of optimism. If it is not confirmed, say so.
Real people and real accounts only
No fake profiles, bots, bought accounts or undisclosed paid influencers.
No cyberattacks
During the war, IT Army volunteers ran denial-of-service attacks on Russian sites. That is a crime in most countries and has no place in a campaign or cause.
Answer claims, not people
Debunk rumours with proof; do not publish lists of critics or label opponents as foreign agents.
Press freedom
Do not shut critical outlets out of press conferences or ask sources not to talk to them. The 2024 allegations against the Ukrainian presidential office cost credibility.
Transparent donations
An authorised channel, receipts, legal limits and regular reports. In an election, follow your country's election law.
Keep the state machinery out of the campaign
Government channels and budgets are not for campaigning. In Brazil, Law 9.504/1997 restricts institutional advertising during the election period.
Personal data
Lists of supporters and donors only with consent, under the GDPR or Brazil's LGPD.
Dignity of victims
Images of the dead, the wounded and children only with care, context and, where possible, consent.
People's safety
Do not reveal the location of people under threat; check the background of videos before publishing.

Limits

What this method doesn't do, and when it fails.
It is not an election campaign
It was the communication of a government at war, under martial law and with no elections since 2022. The lessons serve campaigns, but the context of unity against an invader does not repeat.
Speeches didn't decide the war
The speeches helped secure sanctions and weapons, but did not decide the war, which was still going on in October 2026. And in July 2025 only changing the law calmed the protests.
Crisis trust wears out
The TV telethon fell to about 10% of the audience by the end of 2023; in 2025, only 38% of those who knew it trusted it.
Centralisation has a cost for democracy
The European Commission criticised the state telethon in 2024; Ukrainska Pravda accused the office of systematic pressure in 2024 (Lytvyn denied it); the CCD published and withdrew a list of critics.
The world's attention tires
After the first weeks, fewer doors opened: in 2022 Mercosur turned down a request for a speech and only four leaders joined the meeting with the African Union.
Dependence on a few tech owners
Starlink saved the network, but left it in one company's hands; in October 2026 the Presidency was still announcing that speeds had been restored after restrictions.
Scandal in the inner circle
In 2025–2026 a corruption scandal at the state nuclear power company led to the chief of staff's resignation, and the departure of a popular minister brought people onto the streets.

Check yourself

Five questions to confirm the essentials.

Five questions to confirm the essentials. Each answer comes with an explanation.

1. Why did the 25 February 2022 video work against the rumour that he had fled?
2. What is the first rule of a speech, according to speechwriter Dmytro Lytvyn?
3. What changed from one foreign parliament to the next?
4. Why did Fedorov's asks to companies work?
5. Which of these practices from the Ukrainian case should a campaign NOT copy?

Sources

This playbook was built from the official messages and speeches of the Presidency of Ukraine, the written testimony of speechwriter Dmytro…

This playbook was built from the official messages and speeches of the Presidency of Ukraine, the written testimony of speechwriter Dmytro Lytvyn, interviews with Mykhailo Podolyak and Mykhailo Fedorov, official pages of the CCD and UNITED24, media surveys from 2024–2026 and reporting up to October 2026. All pages were accessed on 26 October 2026.

49 sources

Who did it

Data

Press

Analysis

Image: Press Service of the President of Ukraine, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (adapted)

Updated 26 October 2026

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