Comic book hero Volodymyr Zelensky has survived at least three precise assassination attempts by elite assault detachments since Russia’s war a week ago began, Ukrainian officials say. All of his money was thanks to tips from Russian spies.
Sergei Supinsky / AFP via Getty Images
Both the Kremlin-funded Wagner group and the murder group of the leader of the Chechen Republic Ramzan Akhmadovich Kadyrov allegedly tried to kill the Ukrainian president, who was hiding in different bunkers deep below the capital. do Kyiv, based on the Washington Post. Wagner mercenary—run by Yevgeny Prigozhin AKA “Putin’s Chef” —A kill list of 24 was expected, including Zelensky, but was blocked by a stalled military convoy outside Kyiv, making it difficult for Russian special forces to locate it. escape route, based on the Times of London.
Ukraine’s national security chief Oleksiy Danilov told a Ukrainian television network that double agents from Russia’s Federal Security Service or the FSB alerted them to the efforts. “I can say that we have received information from the FSB, who do not want to participate in this bloody war,” said Danilov. “And thanks to this, the Kadyrov elite group was destroyed, the group that came here to remove our president.”
However, as President Putin’s brutal war unfolded, Zelensky’s harsh resistance elevated him to cult status, certainly infuriating Putin. people whose low self-esteem seem to be prone to psychosis. Zelensky now even begs Putin to meet face-to-face – which seems like a death wish – but this is unlikely. “I don’t bite,” Zelensky said in a statement to Putin. “What are you scared?”
Early Friday morning, as Europe’s largest nuclear power plant caught fire under a Russian attack and became occupied, Zelensky made an emotional plea in a video statement accuses Russia of moving closer to nuclear war. “If there’s an explosion, that’s the end for everyone. The end for Europe. He said as world leaders reacted with shock and dismay. “Only urgent European action can stop the Russian military. Do not allow Europe to die from a nuclear power plant disaster.”
Zelensky added, “No country other than Russia has ever fired on nuclear power plants. This is the first time in our history. In human history. he said. “The Russian tanks know that they are firing directly at the station.” The Russian military instead claimed that it was Ukrainian forces defending the plant that opened fire first, inciting a return fire.
NATO head Jens Stoltenberg condemned the attack on the nuclear plant. “This only demonstrates the recklessness of this war and the importance of ending it and the importance of Russia withdrawing all its troops and attracting goodwill into diplomatic efforts,” he said in the morning. Friday when leaders called for an emergency meeting to deal with the latest wave of aggression.
Ukraine’s Foreign Ministry warned that if the Zaporizhzhya plant were to melt, it would be 10 times larger than the Chernobyl disaster, considered the worst nuclear disaster in history.
As fighting broke out across the country, Ukraine’s culture minister ordered workers to wrap statues and attempt to build ancient basilicas in Kyiv and Lviv, as they prepared for more rockets . “Russian missiles and planes are deliberately destroying the historic centers of major cities. Putin wants to destroy European heritage and culture, wipe it off the face of the earth,” the culture ministry said in a statement on Friday. “A mad dictator threatens to destroy the Church of Saint Sophia in Kyiv, a church built by UNESCO in the 11th century.”
A fierce battle was also raging in the strategic port city of Mariupol in southeastern Ukraine on Friday with continuous shelling as Russian troops surrounded the city. In Zhytomyr to the north, a school was destroyed by rockets, causing it to collapse, according to CNN.
NATO continues to oppose Zelensky’s offer of a no-fly zone over the country, concerned that shooting down the Russian jet to enforce it would only create more reason to attack Putin, potentially responding pay with Russia’s nuclear arsenal. “NATO will defend all of its allies and territories against a Russian attack,” US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Friday. “We are a defensive alliance. We look for no conflicts. But if conflict comes to us, we are ready for it and we will defend every inch of NATO territory.” Ukraine, of course, is not yet part of that territory.
Negotiations on Thursday resulted in Russia promising a limited humanitarian corridor for supplies and civilians, but Zelensky on Friday expressed little confidence that Russia would uphold the deal. “Today we’ll see if the deal works,” Zelensky said, clearly unconvincing.
