A Zelensky impersonator escapes Ukraine — helped by fake Putin, Kim Jong Un
As the real Zelensky took to the streets of the capital, wearing a bulletproof jacket in a video he released to dispel any notion he was fleeing — even as the United States warned him of threats to his life — the fake Zelensky soon realized he needed all the help he could get.
When you look exactly like the man leading a country during a war, life becomes even more strange, and fast. As Umid Isabaev, 41, started contemplating his own precarious position, he was offered help from two unusual figures: Russian President Vladimir Putin and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Not the real ones, of course, but by two men who earn a living impersonating them.
Many miles away, from a “secret location” in Asia that he would not disclose, “Howard X” — who has impersonated Kim since 2013 — was watching the news of bombs falling during Russia’s attempts to capture key Ukrainian cities. Howard spoke on condition his full name, age and whereabouts would not be disclosed, since he takes extra precautions to avoid detection by the dictator’s security forces. (He did tell The Washington Post he was “under 50” and “the nearest thing to the real Kim” that this reporter was likely ever to get.)
Howard was thinking about Isabaev, whom he had never met — but knew of, since they both starred in a 2020 documentary about political look-alikes on Russia 24 television. As Ukraine begged for foreign volunteers to help defeat Russia, Howard said he was “too fat to fight” — but knew he “could help” the fake Zelensky.
Life as a professional political double can be fun, Howard said. People want selfies with you. Restaurants and bars give you freebies. Commercial and film companies are willing to pay high fees. But it is also a risky business — and Howard himself has been detained at Singapore airport ahead of a real-life summit between North Korea’s leader and President Donald Trump. “Dictatorships don’t have a sense of humor,” he told the BBC at the time.
As the world watched Ukraine’s real leader transform into a wartime hero — delivering speeches to parliaments across the globe and broadcasts from bunkers in his now-trademark olive half-zip sweaters and T-shirts — Howard thought the man who looked exactly like Zelensky could be in jeopardy.
Howard, who was born in Hong Kong but later emigrated to Australia, said he did “have money” — enough to fund Isabaev’s travels as well as maintain his own lifestyle as a professional impersonator. “That Kim haircut takes a lot of effort to upkeep,” he joked.
On the other side of the social media message, Isabaev — who is just three years younger than the man he mimics — was surprised by the outreach from a stranger. “It was an unexpected proposal,” he said. “There is a war on, and I didn’t know what to do next.”
Enter: Fake Putin
Howard enlisted the help of another friend, who goes by the stage name “Steve Poland.” His real name is Slawomir. He is globally known as “fake Putin” for being one of the most famous, if not the most famous, professional look-alike of the Russian president.
Fake Putin gets around. He has spent the last decade profiting from his natural likeness to Russia’s leader, featuring in commercials, movies and events all over the world, in Hollywood, China and beyond. Last year he appeared in a Duran Duran music video to mark the British band’s 40th anniversary. In the footage, Slawomir can be seen riding atop an inflatable horse as a Queen Elizabeth II look-alike sips champagne at a poker table and Kim Kardashian’s double poses for selfies.
“Although I pretend to be him, I do NOT admire him,” Slawomir wrote on his social media channels days after the invasion.
Howard and Slawomir met in 2017, when the two starred in a commercial together for electronics business Wilson. The pair are seen in the video dancing enthusiastically alongside a Trump impersonator.
From his home in Poland, to which millions of Ukrainian refugees have fled, Slawomir — who spoke on the condition his last name would not be used due to security concerns — told The Post that it was his responsibility to stay in constant communication with the Zelensky impersonator, Isabaev, as he made the journey into Poland.
Isabaev, who lived in Russia for more than a decade before moving to Ukraine, said that while he was still in Kyiv during the war, both Russians and Ukrainians reached out to him offering to help. He didn’t know who he could trust. “[Isabaev] was followed all the time by Russian soldiers who wanted to take him to Moscow to spread propaganda negative for Ukraine,” Slawomir said.
Howard, who set up an official Facebook page for Isabaev as he took on a new role as the fake Zelensky’s manager and booker during the war, said the page was hacked within 24 hours. He said hackers posted an image of the letter Z — a pro-Russian symbol that emerged during the war.
The journey from Kyiv to Poland took Isabaev about a week. Isabaev passed through several military checkpoints before making it to safety March 12. Howard sent a car to pick him up and said he paid for Isabaev’s hotels.
Isabaev, like millions of people fleeing, was met by volunteers at the Polish border and given a hot drink. But he insists he does not see himself as a refugee. “I have my own country,” he said. But the neighborhood he left behind has since been attacked. Friends have sent him photos of the destruction. “I might have died,” he said.
A ‘tribe’ of impersonators
Another issue that complicated the great impersonator escape of 2022 was that the fake Zelensky, Putin and Kim all spoke different languages and had to rely heavily on Google Translate and the help of translators to orchestrate their plan.
Howard’s native languages are English and Cantonese. Isabaev speaks Uzbek, with Russian as a second language. Slawomir prefers to speak in Polish.
But the three impersonators of some of the world’s most recognizable leaders understand each other. They are “a tribe,” Howard said, and hinted that a meeting could be “in the works.”
Isabaev shot to fame in 2019 after someone snapped a photo of him on the Moscow subway and uploaded it to social media. He soon began professionally imitating Zelensky.
Before he was president, the real Zelensky was also an actor — who played the role of a history teacher who becomes president — in a 2015 show that streamed on Netflix called “Servant of the People.” Isabaev appeared on the show but would not detail his role; Howard said Isabaev was Zelensky’s body double.
Howard said his drive to help was born from his own sticky situations as an impersonator.
While detained at the 2018 Trump-Kim summit in Singapore, he was warned by authorities to stay away from certain areas in which the two real politicians would be meeting. Howard also says he was “roughed up” by agents he believes belonged to the real Kim’s security team at the Winter Olympics in South Korea. He had shown up in full costume to “surprise” North Korea’s cheerleaders.
And this is not his first experience getting fellow impersonators out of war zones. Last year, Howard helped Abbas Alizada — also known as the “Afghan Bruce Lee” — escape from Afghanistan last year as the country fell to the Taliban. Alizada, who soared to fame imitating the martial arts legend in 2015 after photos of him were shared online, had messaged Howard for help. His bank accounts, he said, had been frozen, and he was worried for his safety. Howard said he sent him money, and Alizada was able to flee and continue his career in imitation.
Putin and Zelensky walk into a bar
At least, their look-alikes did. They drank beer and discussed the war — as negotiations between teams representing the real leaders of Ukraine and Russia to end the war limped along.
They posed for a selfie, enough for anyone following the conflict to do a double-take — even without their makeup or costumes.
Poland could provide more career opportunities. Isabaev said he’s in Warsaw now, in a “rehearsal process” for a film, but declined to share more information.
But the threats to them all remain, Howard said. Slawomir, the fake Putin, said life has become very difficult for him since Russia’s invasion. He ponders what he might do if he ever came across the real Putin, whom he has never met. “Vladimir,” fake Putin said he would begin, “we look the same, but we think completely differently. There is no need to kill to be respected.”
“I see him almost every day,” fake Putin said of fake Zelensky. “We are friends.”
Annabelle Chapman in Warsaw contributed to this report.