A defiant Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy vowed on Monday that he would leave Ukraine’s capital of Kyiv on Monday, insisting that he was “not afraid of anyone.”
With Russian forces continuing to rain down death and destruction from the skies, Zelenskyy even revealed that he was in his office to prove that he was not afraid.
Posting a nearly nine minute long video message, he pointed the camera on his phone outside the window to show that it was nighttime in the capital city.
“You know, we used to say: Monday is a hard day. There is a war in the country. So every day is Monday. And now we are used to the fact that every day and every night are like that,” Zelenskyy said.
“Now I will say one thing: I stay here. I stay in Kyiv. On Bankova Street. I’m not hiding. And I’m not afraid of anyone,” he added. “As much as it takes to win this Patriotic War of ours.”
Zelenskyy said last week that Russian “enemy sabotage groups” intent on killing him and his family had entered Kyiv. The Ukrainian president has reportedly survived three attempts on his life already, as the war enters its 13th day. Paid mercenaries from a Kremlin-backed private militia known as the Wagner Group and special forces from Chechnya were said to be on a mission to take Zelenskyy out and Ukrainian officials have said that Chechen assassins were “eliminated” on Saturday just outside Kyiv.
The assassins’ efforts have been foiled from within, by certain “elements” in Russia’s Federal Security Service (FSB) who oppose Russian President Vladimir Putin’s attack on Ukraine, according to various reports.
In the video posted Monday, Zelenskky again said the Russians “want to destroy Ukraine politically by destroying the head of state.”
He also said Ukranians in the country’s southern region have created a “nightmare” for Russian forces.
“They forgot that we are not afraid of paddy wagons and batons,” Zelenskyy said. “We are not afraid of tanks and machine guns. When the main thing is on our side, truth. As it is now.”
Zelenskyy was selected by the Ronald Reagan Presidential Foundation & Institute as the latest recipient of the Ronald Reagan Freedom Award, the organization announced Monday.
Fred Ryan, Chairman of the Board of Trustees for the foundation was joined by Ukraine’s ambassador to the United States Oksana Markova when he delivered the news that Zelenskyy would receive the award “for his courageous fight against tyranny and for his indomitable stance for freedom and democracy,”
“The world applauds President Zelenskyy and all that he stands for,” Ryan said, listing “democracy, individual liberty, freedom, and hope. These are the values and principles that Ronald Reagan fought for all his life and what his foundation promotes today.”
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Tom Tillison grew up in Maryland before moving to Central Florida as a young teen. It is in the Sunshine State that he honed both his passion for politics and his writing skills. Tillison also contributes to BizPac Review.
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