There are anxieties over the whereabouts and safety of embattled Ukraine’s President, Volodymyr Zelensky on Friday as he practically became helpless in the hands of attacking Russian soldiers who had invaded the country.
The help he seemed to have expected from world powers like the US and NATO failed to come, and the country is thus exposed to a huge tragedy as Russian leader Putin insists he must suppress Ukraine to prevent it from sabotaging his own country’s security.
Things got so worrisome that Zelensky reportedly told European Union leaders in a video call Friday night that it could be the last time they see him alive.
Walla News Diplomatic Correspondent Barak claims two people briefed on the call told him.
Zelenskyy is currently hiding in Ukraine’s capital city of Kyiv as more than 100,000 Russian troops continue to attack the country on Russian President Vladimir Putin’s orders.
“We were supposed to talk on the phone this morning, but he was no longer available,” Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi told his Parliament Friday morning of Zelenskyy.
Swedish Prime Minister Magdalena Andersson, who was also on the Thursday-night call with Zelenskyy, reportedly told the Swedish News Agency that “this may have been the last time we saw Zelensky.”
Zelenskyy said in an early Thursday-morning address that Russian saboteurs had entered Kyiv and said intelligence found “the enemy has identified me as the number one target.”
U.S. President Joe Biden issued more sanctions on Russian banks and high-profile oligarchs Thursday but stopped short of sending troops in.
“We have no intention of fighting Russia,” Biden said during a press conference. “We want to send an unmistakable message, though, that the United States and our allies will defend every inch of NATO territory.”
More than 1,700 anti-war protestors have been arrested across more than 50 Russian cities in a rare display of public outrage at Putin’s invasion.
