Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky described how Russian forces were close to capturing or killing him in the early hours of the invasion.
Zelensky was widely praised for his response to the invasion in the 65 days since the first Russian troops entered Ukraine. He has spoken before the US Congress, the World Bank and the Grammy Awards; Boris Johnson is among the high-ranking figures who want to be seen in his company.
But his time as leader of a country attacked by a far more powerful neighbor could end within hours of the invasion, according to interviews with Time magazine.
Speaking to reporter Simon Schuster, who spent two weeks at the presidential complex in Kyiv, Zelensky described how Russian troops approached the discovery of him and his family as they tried to seize the capital’s government district on the first day of the conflict.
While many of his memories of those first few hours remained “fragmented,” Zelenski said the foresight on February 24 stands out.
After the bombing began, he and his wife, Olena Zelenska, went to tell their 17-year-old daughter and nine-year-old son to prepare to flee their homes. “We woke them up,” Zelenski told Time. “It was strong. There were explosions there. “
The Ukrainian military told Zelensky that Russian strike teams had parachuted into Kyiv to kill or capture him and his family. “Before tonight, we only saw such things in the movies,” Andriy Ermak, his chief of staff, told the magazine.
Shootings erupted around the government district when night fell on the first day of the war, Schuster writes. “The guards in the complex turned off the lights and brought bulletproof vests and machine guns for Zelenski and about a dozen of his assistants.
One of the few officers who knew how to use the weapons was Alexei Arestovich, a veteran of Ukraine’s military intelligence. “It was absolute madness,” Arestovic told Time. “Automation for everyone.”
According to Schuster, Russian troops have made two attempts to storm the complex while Zelensky’s family is still inside.
The next night, after refusing proposals for a safer environment – including an evacuation by US and British forces that would allow him to form a government in exile – Zelensky went outside to record an already known video message on his phone.
At that moment, Zelenski said he was really aware of his role in the war. “You know they’re watching,” he told the magazine. “You are a symbol. You must act as the head of state must act. “
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