A report reveals how little the Ukrainian president has escaped Russian command. The record of the first 24 hours of the war in Kiev.
February 24, 2022. A day Volodymyr Zelensky will always remember. Not just because his country has been suffering from Russia’s brutal war of aggression for more than 60 days. Furthermore, on the first day of the war, the Russian army reportedly managed to capture the Ukrainian president and his family almost twice. Memories that will haunt Selenski for a long time.
READ MORE: Day 65 of the war in Ukraine – the live ticker
In an interview with the American 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 series of interviews – including with Zelensky himself. Thanks to Shuster, the first 24 hours of the war can be reconstructed from the Ukrainian president’s point of view.
Russian soldiers nearly arrested Zelenskyy and his family
The bombing of Kiev had already started in the morning. It is said that Selenski immediately went with his wife for their 17-year-old daughter and nine-year-old son. “We woke them up,” he told Time. Your children must prepare to flee. “It was loud. There were explosions there,” recalls Selenski.
It quickly became clear that the presidential offices were not the safest places. A Russian task force parachuted into Kiev. With only one objective: kill or capture Zelensky and his family. The Ukrainian military informed him of this, according to Ukrainian Chief of Staff Andriy Yermak.
Elite soldiers seal off the terrain
The Presidential Guard tried everything to barricade the complex in the government district. To do this, they used everything they could find – from police barricades to sheets of plywood. Throughout the day, friends and allies flocked 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 first met Zelenskiy since the start of the war, he supposedly didn’t see fear on his face. Instead, he said he read only one question on the Ukrainian president’s face: “How can this be?” According to “Time”, none of them could really understand what was going on. “We feel the order of the world crumbling around us,” he is quoted as saying.
Shooting after dark
Stefanchuk ran to Parliament that day and started a vote. Martial law should be imposed across the country. Zelensky signed the decree that same afternoon.
As darkness fell on the first night of the war, gunfights broke out in the government district. Immediately, the guards turned off all the lights inside the complex. Zelenskiy and his allies were given bulletproof vests and assault rifles. Only a few knew what to do with weapons.
Legendary phrase goes around the world
Presidential adviser Oleksiy Arestovych knew how to use the weapon. He is a veteran of the Ukrainian military intelligence service. “It was an absolute madhouse,” says Arestovych. “Automatic for all.” He told the Time journalist that Russian soldiers tried to invade 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 must be evacuated to establish a safe government-in-exile. None of Zelensky’s advisers remember seriously considering the offer. He communicated his decision to the Americans through a secure connection that went around the world. “I need ammo, not a ride.”
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