Like freedom in general, freedom of speech is not negative but positive, not about the barriers but the person, not about an absence but a presence. We protect free speakers because truth threatens the power of tyrants. Zelens’kyi was speaking truth amid the lies of Russian propagandists who claimed that he had abandoned the city. He was speaking his truth to power, because Russia was invading with terrifying force. Zelens’kyi was putting his body at risk for what he knew to be true. Indeed, it was what he was doing with his body—staying—that was the truth.
