A report reveals how narrowly the Ukrainian president eluded Russian commands. The record of the first 24 hours of the war in Kyiv.
February 24, 2022. A day that Volodymyr Zelensky will always remember. Not only because his country has been suffering from Russia’s brutal war of aggression for more than 60 days. What’s more, on the first day of the war, the Russian army is said to have managed to capture the Ukrainian president and his family almost twice. Memories that will haunt Selenski for a long time.
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In an interview with the US magazine “Time”, the Ukrainian President spoke about the first hours of the war. “Time” journalist Simon Shuster spent weeks researching the president’s compound. Shuster conducted a number of interviews – including with Zelenski himself. Thanks to Shuster, the first 24 hours of the war can be reconstructed from the Ukrainian president’s point of view.
Russian soldiers almost arrested Zelenskyy and his family
The bombing in Kyiv had already begun in the morning. Selenski is said to have immediately gone with his wife to their 17-year-old daughter and nine-year-old son. “We woke them up,” he is quoted as saying by “Time”. His children should get ready to flee. “It was loud. There were explosions over there,” Selenski recalls.
It quickly became clear that the presidential offices were not the safest places. A Russian task force parachuted over Kyiv. With only one goal: to kill or capture Zelensky and his family. The Ukrainian military had informed him of this, according to Ukrainian Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak.
Elite soldiers seal off terrain
The Presidential Guard tried everything to barricade the compound in the government district. To do this, they used whatever they could find – from police barricades to sheets of plywood. Throughout the day, friends and allies rushed to Zelenskyi’s side. Also Ruslan Stefanchuk. He is the President of Parliament. In the event of Zelensky’s death, he assumes command.
When Stefanchuk met Zelenskiy for the first time since the start of the war, he reportedly saw no fear on his face. Instead, he is said to have read only one question on the Ukrainian president’s face: “How could that be?” According to “Time”, neither of them could really understand what was happening. “We felt the order of the world collapsing around us,” he is quoted as saying.
Shooting after dark
Stefanchuk rushed down to Parliament that day and initiated a vote. Martial law was to be imposed across the country. Zelensky signed the decree that same afternoon.
As darkness fell on the first evening of the war, gunfights broke out in the government district. Immediately, the guards turned off all lights inside the compound. Zelenskiy and his allies were given bulletproof vests and assault rifles. Only a few knew what to do with the weapons.
Legendary sentence goes around the world
Presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych knew how to use the gun. He is a veteran of the Ukrainian military intelligence service. “It was an absolute madhouse,” says Arestovych. “Automatic for everyone.” He told the “Time” journalist that Russian soldiers tried to storm the site twice. Selenski himself reveals to Shuster that at the time his wife and children were still hiding in the government district.
Given the dangerous situation for the President of Ukraine and his family, American and British forces made Zelenskiy an offer. He and his allies should be evacuated to set up a government-in-exile in safety. None of Zelensky’s advisors recall ever seriously considering the offer. He communicated his decision to the Americans via a secure connection, which went around the world. “I need ammo, not a ride.”