People thirsting over Volodymyr Zelensky has stirred a huge debate online

Almost a week after Russian leader Vladimir Putin started his invasion of Ukraine, the internet has been a strange place. People have transformed from self-proclaimed Covid experts to war correspondents in a matter of days.

There have been some brow-raising reactions to the heavy current affairs, including misinformation spreading across the web. Take this viral video of a "Ukrainian girl confronting a Russian soldier" – when, in fact, the footage dates back to 2012 and wasn't even in Ukraine.

Well now, another peculiar phenomenon has hit social media: People are declaring their love for Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelensky – and they're full-on thirsting.

A tweet gained instant traction over the weekend with tens of thousands of RTs and over 200,000 likes. It read: "BREAKING: every woman in your life now has at least a small crush on Volodymyr Zelensky, and there's absolutely nothing you can do about it".

Even sellers on Etsy are jumping on the bandwagon with dedicated Zelensky mugs and T-shirts plastered with the Ukrainian president's face.

@salisbot/Twitter

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Naturally, the responses rolled in with one man humouring: "He dances, he acts, he presidents, he fights, I'm a straight 41yo man and I think I'm pregnant just watching him."

Another said: "Acquaintance told husband she has a crush on Zelensky, and he responded with, 'As do I.'"

However, some Twitter users slammed the tweet as "disgusting", with one saying "It should be illegal to tweet like this".

Another condemned the "gross" comments as "fetishising" Zelensky during war, while a third straight-talking Twitter user said people should "stop Hollywoodising war."

"Everything is always sex sex sex with some of you," another concluded. Though one user hit back and said they "don't think there is anything wrong in recognising what an absolutely amazing man this guy seems to be. His loyalty to his country, the way he speaks to his people and the international community."

In a bid to justify their newfound love interest, people flooded the timeline with reasons as to why:

1. He stayed in Ukraine to defend his homeland

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2. He's a family man – with dogs

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3. Zelensky goes hard in the gym, apparently

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4. He can dance...

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5. Zelensky was also the voice of Ukrainian Paddington Bear

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While it's okay for people to admire Zelensky's courage and bravery to defend his country, it's also crucial to be mindful of the Ukrainian people and to not make light of the war.

To find out how you can help the people of Ukraine, click here.

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