Ukraine's leading English-language newspaper since 1995

It’s freaky how the whole words seems to be amazed by the fact that the Russian leaders Vladimir Putin and Dmitry Medvedev are capable of crying, grieving and displaying sorrow. That they are capable of conducting investigations efficiently and openly, and giving the grief-struck Poles full access to information and all the human support they could after the tragic plane crash in Smolensk on April 10 that killed 96, including the Polish president.

It seems a similar heroic act was performed by Ukraine’s leader Viktor Yanukovych in Washington, D.C. during the recent visit – the act of being normal.

Suddenly, the whole world is amazed that Yanukovych does not seem to have screwed up once, showed willingness to make deals and generally behaved himself. Suddenly, he is the star of the show just for doing what he is supposed to do.

How bad do the leaders have to be to awe people just by being normal, human and doing their job? It says a lot about the track record of their performance, and, consequently, the image of these leaders at home and in the world. It’s scary when adequate behavior starts to amaze.