“Some say I’m not a bad president, but of course I’m not a good father right now. I’m sorry I don’t have time for children and that my children weren’t raised by me: right now my wife and the war are raising them». These are the bitter reflections that the Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky, one year and three months after the Russian invasion of Ukraine, shared in a round table with journalists from various Scandinavian newspapers. Â «I can’t detach myself from the conflict even for a moment, and war is not something you can get used to – he said -. The first time we liberated a territory it was like coming back to life».
Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife Olena, 45 each, have two children: Oleksandra, born in 2004, and Kyrylo, born in 2013. The little boy has been saying for months – as his father frequently repeats in his interviews – that he wants to be a soldier “when he grows up”. A family which, like almost all compatriot families, was devastated by the war. Â «If I weren’t the president, I would be in the field fighting», he added.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky – who in the last few hours has spoken on the phone with French President Emmanuel Macron and New Zealander Chris Hipkins – then guaranteed that carries a gun and explained that he would use it to defend himself if the Russians attacked his headquarters in the first days of the invasion. ‘I know how to shoot. Can you imagine the headline “Ukrainian President Captured by Russians”? It would be a disgrace.’
Kiev has reported in the past that the Russians had planned to capture the Ukrainian president early in the invasion, but that the plot was thwarted before a possible raid on the government headquarters on Bankova Street. “No one would have been taken prisoner because we had seriously prepared the defense of Bankova Street,” Zelensky said, explaining that he and his inner circle would fight to the death. When asked if he carries a gun and practices using it, he said yes. However, he stressed that he would certainly not use it to commit suicide, “but certainly to return fire”.