THE UKRAINE INVASION IS THE FIRST SOCIAL MEDIA WAR — And Volodymyr Zelensky is its star:

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky has been particularly adept at using social media to his advantage, posting videos of himself and members of his cabinet on the street in front of structures. The clips have a casual gravitas to them — like a guy out on the town with the boys — and make Zelensky instantly relatable, especially in contrast to Vladimir Putin sitting at a twenty-foot long surfboard table, or Justin Trudeau issuing decrees from a hidden bunker in Ottawa.

The reason for this is fairly simple: Zelensky has a background in media and entertainment. He knows how to use these formats better than world leaders twice his age: better than Putin or even the current White House occupant. Zelensky came of age during the social media renaissance and knows he can reach a larger audience straight from his Twitter feed or YouTube channel. Cable news dinosaurs like Brian Stelter will never understand this.

In the new digital age, wars will be fought not only on the ground or with drones but on Twitter. Old dog news journalists still praising the television can get on board, or get left behind.

For a guy whose resume includes dubbing Paddington Bear for the Ukrainian film market, so far, Zelensky appears to be doing amazingly well against Russia.