Putin once understood the crucial influence of image, deploying his own physique to maximize the public’s perception of his own masculinity. Seemingly self-aware of his own shortcomings, for lack of a better term, Putin offset his height (reported to be around 5’7″ — or more than half a foot shorter than the 6’2″ Barack Obama and 6’3″ Donald Trump) with his brawny build. With the discipline of a Kardashian, Putin ensured the press would publish staged but seemingly candid photo-ops of him, shirtless, riding horses or hoisting rifles. Putin showed off his prowess in judo and driving a Formula 1 car. Putin didn’t have the visage of a Kennedy, and he didn’t try to pretend he did. All he had to do was come across as a formidable patriarch to restore an empire.

But Putin’s evident paranoia over the coronavirus has castrated that persona. He refuses to meet not just with French President Emmanuel Macron, but also his own advisers without multiple meters of a table socially distancing him. Sen. Marco Rubio has even alluded to some unnamed physical or mental ailment Putin is suffering, which may explain his face, distinctively puffy in recent months, or his fear about COVID-19. All of this plays perfectly to Zelensky’s strengths.

Zelensky is 44 years old, and on his handheld videos from the battle-torn streets of Ukraine, he could come off as a decade younger. He is unpolished and untailored. Unlike Putin, who had to show off pecs to demonstrate power, Zelensky’s authenticity and proven commitment to putting himself in harm’s way for his people, something most Westerners could not even fathom our own leaders doing, is enough.