‘Sitting powerfully without light.’ TikTok users are massively recording videos with Zelensky’s voice using his favorite word

A new trend has gone viral on TikTok, where users record videos using an audio clip of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky repeatedly saying the word “потужно” (powerfully), which he frequently uses in his speeches.

The captions for these videos read:

• “This is me powerfully eating potatoes for 40 hryvnias during a blackout until 2028, already starting a fundraiser for a fine for not updating data in a free country where there is no slavery and if you want to leave – you can leave.”
• “Powerfully sitting without electricity in powerful heat with a wet head and powerfully wanting to dry it.”
• “This is me powerfully drinking coffee for a powerful day.”
• “This is me powerfully wiping the table with a rag for a powerful result.”

Additionally, many videos have emerged where people use the sound of Zelensky’s voice saying “потужно” but overlay it with texts about troubling news, particularly regarding power outages and the contrast between life in Ukraine and abroad:

• “You live in Ukraine: no electricity for 18-20 hours a day. Heat +45. You are already so fed up with what’s happening in the country that you just calmly eat that corn, but your sanity has long gone.”
• “2022: I don’t understand why people leave the country. 2024: I understand.”
• “Left Ukraine for three days and cried constantly from the realization that there is still a happy life on Earth.”