Within hours of the attack on Ukraine, Russian forces reached near Kiev. They even came close to assassinating or detaining Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. Zelensky made the claim in an interview with Time magazine on Thursday.
A report in the Guardian, a British media outlet, stated that the fall of Kiev was considered imminent by Russian forces within hours of the start of the offensive. At that time, the United States also offered to send a helicopter for Zelensky to leave the country. But Zelensky denied it and announced that he would continue fighting.
Russia's invasion of Ukraine lasted 75 days. Even after so many days of war, Zelensky has been widely praised for his response to Russian aggression. He addressed the US Congress, the World Bank and the Grammy Awards, with many dignitaries including the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom Boris Johnson.
In an interview with Time Magazine reporter Simon Schuster at the Presidential Palace in Kiev, Zelensky described how Russian troops captured him and his family almost on the first day of the war (February 24). Although the memories of the first few hours are largely "fragmented", he clearly remembers the moment before dawn on February 24.
After the bombing, Zelensky and his wife, Olena Zelensky, told their 18-year-old daughter and 9-year-old son to prepare to flee the house. "We told them to get up," Zelensky said. There was a very loud noise then. There was an explosion. "
The Ukrainian military told Zelensky that the Russian strike team had flown to Kiev to kill or capture him. Andrew Yarmak, the Ukrainian army's chief of staff, told Time: "We've only seen such incidents in movies before that night."
As night fell on the first day of the attack, gun battles broke out around the government quarters. "The building's security guards turned off the lights inside and brought bulletproof vests and assault rifles for Zelensky and dozens of his aides," Schuster wrote.
Oleski Arestovich is one of the few army officers who could carry such a weapon. "The house was turned into a madhouse at the time," said a Ukrainian military intelligence official. Everyone was armed. '
According to Time, Russian troops twice tried to enter the presidential palace. Zelensky's family was still inside.
Despite all this, Zelensky turned down the offer of a more secure environment the next night. The proposal included the removal of him with the help of US and British troops and the formation of an exiled government. However, Zelensky did not hear any of this. He got up and went to the courtyard to record a video message on his phone, which is now famous.
At the time, Zelensky said he was worried about his role in the war. "You know they're following you," he said. "You are exemplary, you have to behave like a head of state," he added.
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