The Zelensky Phenomenon: Media Simulation of Power and the Cognitive Mechanisms of Trust in Ukrainian Society

Abstract This paper examines the political rise of Volodymyr Zelensky as a manifestation of media-based power grounded in cognitive and neurochemical mechanisms of trust. Drawing on the author’s theoretical models—Implant Cognitive Evaluation (ICE) and Dominanta X—it argues that the TV series Servant of the People functioned not as entertainment but as a mechanism of emotional implantation that blurred the boundary between fiction and political reality. The analysis integrates findings from neuroscience (Damasio 1999; Friston 2010; Seth 2021) and demonstrates why this technology succeeded specifically in Ukraine: a society characterised by institutional disillusionment, cognitive fatigue, and media-driven identity. The case illustrates a transition from rational to affective democracy—the emergence of what the author defines as hormonal democracy, where legitimacy arises from affective synchronisation rather than argument.