David Letterman traveled to Kyiv in October to interview Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky for his Netflix series My Next Guest Needs No Introduction. "Our conversation is taking place in the safest part of the city: 300 feet below ground, on an active subway platform," Letterman explained. "I've never done anything quite like this."
At one point during their interview, Zelensky — who was a popular TV comedian and performer before he was elected president — tells Letterman a joke about Russia's claim it is really fighting NATO, not losing to Ukraine. "The times are tough but people keep on joking," he said.
The interview wasn't all jokes, of course. Zelensky used an air raid siren that went off during the interview to remind his audiences that the war is still going on, is still very serious, and Russia is still killing Ukrainians every day. You can watch the entire interview on Netflix.