Volodymyr Zelensky has been named TIME Magazine's 2022 Person of the Year.
The Ukrainian president is being recognised for his leadership amid Russia’s invasion of his nation, with TIME’s award going to an event or person deemed to have had the most influence on global events over the past 12 months.
Other finalists include protesters in Iran, China's leader Xi Jinping and 2021 winner Elon Musk.
'The spirit of Ukraine' has also been honoured by TIME with more than a dozen individuals featuring on the cover that embody the courage of the war-torn country – including British trauma surgeon David Nott, who went into Ukraine to help those injured during the war and Olga Rudenko, editor of the Kyiv Independent newspaper.
TIME’s editor-in-chief Edward Felsenthal said: "This year's choice was the most clear-cut in memory. Whether the battle for Ukraine fills one with hope or with fear, the world marched to Volodymyr Zelensky's beat in 2022.
"In the weeks after Russian bombs began falling on February 24, his decision not to flee Kyiv but to stay and rally support was fateful. From his first 40-second Instagram post on February 25... Ukraine's president was everywhere.
"His information offensive shifted the geopolitical weather system, setting off a wave of action that swept the globe. In a world that had come to be defined by its divisiveness, there was a coming together around this cause, around this country that some outside it might not be able to find on a map."
Edward continued: "The impact of this story on 2022 is the essence of what Person of the Year was designed to capture, the idea that fateful events on the global stage are shaped – for better and worse – by the talents, priorities, fear and foibles of individual human beings.
"For proving that courage can be as contagious as fear, for stirring people and nations to come together in defense of freedom, for reminding the world of the fragility of democracy – and of peace, Volodymyr Zelensky and the spirit of Ukraine are TIME's 2022 Person of the Year."
