Ukraine War: President Zelenskyy Invokes Star Wars in Speech to Big Tech Firms

Zelenskyy appeared as a hologram, which has often been used in Star Wars films for secretive or emotional messages.

Zelenskyy appeared as a hologram.

(Photo: Twitter/ @clothildegouj)

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, during his speech on Thursday, 16 June, at a conference in Paris to gather support from big technology firms for his country's war against Russia, provided references to Star Wars and the Second World War.

He appeared as a hologram, which has often been used in Star Wars films for secretive or emotional messages.

Comparing Russian forces to the enemy in Star Wars, Zelenskyy said, "We will defeat the empire too."

Zelenskyy told his audience that he was offering those firms a unique chance to reconstruct the war-torn nation as a fully digital democracy.

"No other country in the world will offer you such a chance to use the most advanced technologies at a state level," he asserted, as reported by The Guardian.

With respect to WWII, the Ukrainian president reminded his viewers about the lend-lease programmed by which the United States aided the Allied Powers during the war.

"It’s unusual for presidents or heads of government to use a hologram to address people but this is not the only aspect of Star Wars that we are putting into practice," he was quoted as saying by The Guardian.

As the war drags on, Russia, earlier this week, had ordered Ukrainian forces to let go of the "senseless resistance and lay down arms." The ultimatum was ignored.

Russian troops control about 80 percent of Sievierodonetsk, a crucial eastern city under relentless attack.

(With inputs from Reuters and The Guardian.)