The war in Eastern Europe: President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zlansky Interviewed by the American magazine Time and told about the first moments of the Russian invasion and the moments when he was almost captured by the Russian army. The Ukrainian president recounted how on the morning of February 24, the day of the Russian invasion, he told his wife and children that the Russian army had begun bombing and that they should prepare for evacuation.
“We woke them up,” Zlansky said, adding, “There were loud explosions, you understand they are watching you.” The president added that his memory from the first hours was slightly interrupted but “certain memories certainly stood out”. The Times reported that the Ukrainian army told the president at the time that Russian military forces had descended on Kiev to assassinate him and to capture him and his family. His military advisers told Zlansky that “a Russian squad has been sent to abduct him,” amid reports in the country that Russia is trying to form a “pro-Russian puppet government” after being ousted from the presidency.
At the same time, the president’s advisers said that on the eve of the invasion, gunfire erupted in the government district and the security unit responsible for the president’s security turned off the lights in the compound and brought epics and assault rifles to the president and 12 of his advisers. Oleksi ArstovichOne of Zlanski’s senior advisers, said that “Russian soldiers have tried to storm the presidential compound twice, while Zalanski and his family are there, it was a complete madhouse.”
Arstowitz added that “the president is not closely involved in the decisions made by the army commanders. He lets them conduct the fighting, and stays in daily contact with the commanders who stand against all odds, with the Russians operating near the steel plant in Mariupol.
Destruction in Mariupol, Ukraine (Photo: REUTERS / Pavel Klimov)Inside such, Andy Yarmark, The head of the presidential staff said that “Zlansky rejected the proposals to move to a secure bunker outside Kiev, and in early March went out to meet soldiers and see for himself the damage done. His bodyguards ‘lost their minds’.” Zalansky, however, went on to meet with foreign critics, including Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and British Prime Minister Boris Johnson. “I have grown old from all this wisdom that I never wanted,” Zlansky said in an interview, adding, “This is the wisdom associated with the number of people who died and the torture that Russian soldiers committed. To be honest, I never had a goal to gain such knowledge.”