Stephen Fry's Kyiv visit highlights Ukrainians' use of humor as tool for healing amid war

Stephen Fry, invited to Kyiv by First Lady Olena Zelenska, co-hosted a mental health amid war conference. He talked with Ukraine’s President Zelenskнy, shared jokes, and met survivors, including amputees and Azov brigade members.

Fry reflected on the crucial role of humor for both military and civilian Ukrainians in coping with the war.

“Did you get help with your mental recovery as well as your physical recovery? Did you get advice, help?” Fry asked a Ukrainian soldier, currently undergoing treatment for his injuries.

“First of all, I'm from Odesa (Ukraine’s southern city known as “the capital of humor" - ed.) that's why I like to think about this like ‘I didn’t lose my leg, I exchanged my leg for benefits for free parking,” the soldier joked in return.

The comedian then gave a speech at a comedy club in Kyiv, sharing another story of talking to injured Ukrainian soldiers undergoing rehabilitation.

“The thing I’ve seen more than anything else is the thing that this club is dedicated to, and that is laughter. It astonishes me, but everywhere I saw laughter. I spoke to two boys who had lost a leg each, and they had a new prosthetic leg. And they were laughing and laughing. One of them had gotten his in America; he put an American sock on, he’d put a speaker in his knee, you know one of those JBL Bluetooth speakers in his knee. I asked him why, and he said, ‘Because I can,’ and it almost made me cry, like the best laughter does,” he said.

He later spoke with Ukraine’s president Volodymyr Zelenskyy, sharing afterwards that "President Zelenskyy has an unbelievably positive attitude, and I think his background in comedy has no doubt helped him cope. But then, he has no real alternative. This resilience of the Ukrainians is born out of necessity, and tragically, their suffering over the last century has given them plenty of practice."