In Pics: Zelensky Aged Visibly By War's Toll, Putin Frozen Exactly Since 2022

Picture a comedian at the height of his television career. Clean-shaven, charismatic, carrying a boyish charm that made him instantly recognisable.

Even when he decided to run for his country's top office, he carried that same ease into politics. Even as opponents delivered long speeches, he kept things lighter. He travelled across Ukraine with his comedy troupe, Kvartal 95, connecting with voters in a way others couldn't.

The result? In April 2019, he won the second round of the election with a staggering 73 per cent of the vote, defeating the incumbent Petro Poroshenko in the largest landslide in Ukrainian history.

Volodymyr Zelensky on the day of his oath-taking ceremony on April 20, 2022.

That's who Volodymyr Oleksandrovych Zelensky was, before the war, at least. Almost halfway through Zelensky's term, Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, triggering Europe's deadliest conflict since World War II.

Fast forward four years, and Zelensky looks markedly different. His face carries more lines now, not all of them from age. The clean-shaven look is gone. Beards and military-style clothing have become constant features. A permanent evening shadow rests on his face, as if the cracks across Ukrainian soil have slowly found their way onto it.

Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin in 2022, just after Russia invaded Ukraine.

The situation across the border, however, is very different. As his reputation precedes him, Vladimir Putin remains the mask of granite he has always been.

The contrast between the two men is one of the most defining visual stories of the war itself.

When Russia launched its full-scale invasion in February 2022, Zelensky's transformation began almost immediately.

Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin, 6 months after the war started. 

He rejected offers to evacuate Kyiv and instead recorded handheld videos from the streets of the capital, signalling that Ukraine's leadership remained in place. To mark the fourth anniversary of the war, Zelensky released a video message filmed inside the bunker complex, from where he managed operations when the invasion happened.

"This office, this small room in the bunker on Bankova Street, this is where I held my first conversations with world leaders at the start of the war," Zelensky said in the video.  “Here I spoke with President (Joe) Biden, and it was right here that I heard: ‘Volodymyr, there is a threat. You need to leave Ukraine urgently. We are ready to help with that.'” It seems he stayed.

Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin, in 2023, a year after the war started.

As the war continued, Zelensky's appearance changed quickly. Formal suits gave way to olive military-style clothing, interpreted as a gesture of solidarity with soldiers and civilians under attack.

Putin, meanwhile, remained the same. He continued delivering televised addresses from large Kremlin halls, often seated at comically long tables in a show of distance and authority.

By the second year of the war, Zelensky's public image had settled into that of a wartime leader.

By the second year of the war, Zelensky's public image had settled into that of a wartime leader.

His travel schedule became relentless, moving between foreign capitals to secure military and financial support while also visiting frontline regions inside Ukraine.

This was when deeper facial lines started showing up. The humour that once defined his persona came out less frequently.

Putin, on the other hand, appeared largely the same even after the International Criminal Court issued a war crimes arrest warrant against him.

Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin after two years of war in 2024.

As the conflict entered its third year, signs of fatigue within Ukraine's leadership began to emerge.

Images from this period show a visibly older leader than the one elected in 2019. The beard became permanent, and his clothing remained unchanged.

Putin, by contrast, appeared physically and stylistically consistent with earlier years, perhaps to project normalcy despite sanctions and battlefield losses.

Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin after three years of war in 2025.

Now, four years into the war, the contrast between Putin and Zelensky has become symbolic.

Viewed side by side across these years, photographs tell a story that words cannot.

One leader is visibly marked by war, and the other one is projecting normalcy, the best he can.

Volodymyr Zelensky and Vladimir Putin in 2026.

After years of heavy losses and relentless missile and drone attacks by Moscow's forces, fatigue within Ukraine is growing. Energy remains scarce, and Ukrainians are struggling to endure the winters without consistent heat or electricity.

At the same time, Kyiv is facing mounting pressure from US President Donald Trump to accept a peace deal involving the cession of territory to Russia, a concession Zelensky has said, time and again, is strictly out of the question.