Zelensky’s peculiar Glastonbury appearance

Volodymyr Zelensky didn’t quite make it onto the Glastonbury line-up posters. Perhaps Michael Eavis, the owner of ever-so Worthy Farm, had last-minute difficulties with the Ukrainian President’s booking agent. No matter. An eight-foot-high image of President Zelensky’s face graced the Pyramid Stage on Friday, right before ageing indie rockers The Libertines belted out their two-decades-old bangers. ‘Time for Heroes’, but not before festival-goers had enjoyed a brief set by Europe’s very own hero. You’d be forgiven for thinking the shtick’s getting a bit tired – but at least Pete Doherty can just about hold a tune.

‘Glastonbury is the greatest concentration of freedom these days,’ Zelensky told the festival. And what greater expression of freedom is there than tucking into over-priced Vietnamese street food while some besieged leader begs your government for more weapons? Perhaps Stoke Newington’s exiles in Somerset could pop over to the Kyiv tent, nestled somewhere between Water Aid and Greenpeace, and sponsor an NLAW? They barely managed the syllabically-strained rendition of ‘Oh, Volodymyr Zelensky’ (à la ‘Oh, Jeremy Corbyn’).