Zelensky or Zelenskyy

I see there's been some consternation over whether it's Zelensky or Zelenskyy. People getting all hot under the collar, as if an extra 'y' is the difference between victory and defeat in Ukraine.

Now, in the grand scheme of things – what with Russia lobbing missiles into apartment blocks and Ukraine doing its level best to keep Putin's army of poorly shod looters at bay – you’d think an extra 'y' wouldn't be high on the list of priorities. But no. Some folks are treating this like it's the Second Coming of the Oxford Comma debate.

The man himself, Volodymyr Zelenskyy (or should that be Zelensky, depending on how many consonants you can stomach), probably doesn't give a toss. He’s too busy dodging assassination attempts, rallying his people, and dealing with Western leaders who alternate between throwing billions at him and clutching their pearls over the idea that Ukraine might actually win. Meanwhile, the linguists and pedants are locked in mortal combat over a single letter.

So what's the deal? Well, Zelenskyy is the correct transliteration from Ukrainian. The double 'y' reflects the -ий ending in his surname, which has a specific grammatical function in Ukrainian. But here’s the irony – that extra 'y' does absolutely nothing in English. It doesn't change the pronunciation. It doesn't clarify anything. It just sits there, taking up space like a Reform Ltd. MP who knows he’s losing his seat at the next election.

If you’re used to Russian-style transliteration, Zelensky might seem more natural. The former is how he spells it in English. The latter is how journalists used to spell it before someone realised Ukraine is its own country. This isn’t just about letters, though. It’s about identity. Ukrainians are understandably keen to shake off the linguistic remnants of Russian imperialism, and spelling their names their way is part of that. The BBC, Reuters, and the other journalistic gatekeepers of the English-speaking world took a while to catch on – they’re still traumatised by Kyiv vs Kiev – but most have settled on Zelenskyy because that’s what his government uses. Actually, Zelenski is a more accurate transliteration into English.  

Still, I fully understand why the extra 'y' grates. It looks like a typo. A cat walking across the keyboard. Some kind of cruel joke designed to bamboozle spellcheck. You look at it and think, surely that's a mistake. But no, it's intentional, just like Kyiv instead of Kiev and Dnipro instead of Dnepropetrovsk. The message is clear – Ukraine has had enough of Russia defining its names.

Of course, there's an easy solution. If you really can't handle the double 'y', just call him Volodymyr. But then again, we don’t need another debate about why Volodymyr isn’t Vladimir. One war at a time.