Zelenskyy survives assassination attempt by elite Chechen soldiers

Created: 03/02/2022Updated: 03/02/2022 10:38 am

By: Christian Stör

Volodymyr Zelenskyy has become Vladimir Putin's number one target.

But attempts to assassinate the Ukrainian president have so far failed.

• The war between Russia* and Ukraine* could be decided in the battle for Kyiv.

• The country's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy*, is still staying in the Ukrainian capital.

  Russia's President Vladimir Putin* declared him the number one goal.

• All news about the Ukraine conflict* and the whereabouts of Selenskyj in our news ticker.

+++ 10.25

a.m .: Despite the Ukraine war, Volodymyr Selenskyj is still in the hard-fought capital of Kiev.

From there, the Ukrainian President regularly speaks from an air raid shelter.

According to Ukrainian security authorities, Zelenskyy just barely survived an attack by elite Chechen soldiers.

According to Ukrainian sources, the attackers were "eliminated".

Selenskyj himself is well.

Several international media outlets confirmed the attack.

The assassination attempt on Zelenskyy was ordered by Putin and the Kremlin, according to the Ukrainian side.

It was carried out by the so-called "Kadyrov troops", a notorious special unit of Chechen mercenaries under the command of Ramzan Kadyrov.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy apparently survived an assassination attempt by Russia during the Ukraine war.

The photo shows the President of Ukraine in an interview with CNN.

(Screenshot) © CNN

Selenskyj himself gave an interview from his bunker to the US news channel CNN just a few hours ago.

The President of Ukraine appeared in good spirits and determined to continue the war against Russia.

In the Ukraine war, Volodymyr Zelenskyj addressed the European Parliament directly

Update from Wednesday, March 2nd, 2022, 7:26 a.m .:

In an emotional appeal to the European Parliament, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyj demanded that his country be admitted to the European Union.

“We are fighting for our rights, for our freedom, for our lives.

And now we are fighting to survive," he said in a video message at the beginning of a special session.

Meanwhile, according to Ukrainian sources, five people were killed in the air raid on the television tower in Kyiv, and the broadcast of television programs was temporarily interrupted.

The tower stands near the Babyn Yar Gorge and the memorial to a massacre of Jewish Ukrainians committed there by the Wehrmacht during World War II.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, himself a Jew, denounced that the world is silent while bombs fall on Babyn Yar.

"Once again these barbarians are murdering the victims of the Holocaust," he wrote on Twitter. 

Russian President Vladimir Putin, on the other hand, reiterated his conditions for ending the "military operation".

The government in Kyiv must recognize the "people's republics" of Luhansk and Donetsk and Russia's sovereignty over the Black Sea peninsula of Crimea, the Kremlin said.

In addition, Ukraine must be demilitarized and given a neutral status.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy speaks during an extraordinary session on Ukraine in the European Parliament.

© Virginia Mayo/dpa

Ukraine war: "He won't survive that" - Putin is chasing Selenskyj

Update, 2:52 p.m .:

In a live video address to the EU Parliament, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy called for “equal” membership in the European Union.

"We are fighting for our rights, for our freedom, for our lives," Zelenskyj said in his urgent appeal.

“We are fighting for our survival and that is the highest motivation.

But we also want to be equal members in Europe.”

Zelenskyj also announced on Twitter that he had spoken to Olaf Scholz on the phone.

"We talked about the Russian shelling of residential areas in Ukrainian cities during the peace talks." In addition, work on Ukraine's accession to the EU must be accelerated.

Ukraine war: "He won't survive that" - Putin is chasing Selenskyj

First report from Tuesday, March 1st, 2022, 11:02 a.m.:

Kiev – Volodymyr Zelenskyj has become a hero in the Ukraine war.

The Ukrainian President could have made it easy for himself.

However, Zelenskyy rejected the US offer to fly him out of Kyiv.

"The struggle is here," was his message to the West.

He needs ammunition, not an offer to leave the country.

However, Selenskyj could see his courage at a high price.

Will he even survive the Ukraine war?

The voices that doubt this are increasing.

In the USA*, the former Republican strategist Steve Schmidt also spoke in an interview with the MSNBC TV channel that Selenskyj would probably die in Kyiv.

Volodymyr Zelenskyy (centre), President of Ukraine, is staying in Kyiv despite the war with Russia.

© AFP

Ukraine war: "Putin tries to kill Volodymyr Zelenskyy"

"This man is being hunted," Schmidt said.

"Vladimir Putin is trying to kill him." Selenskyj himself does not walk around the world naively.

On the first day of the Ukraine war on February 24, 2022, he declared in a video speech that the enemy had "marked him as target Hummer one according to our information" and that his family was target number two.

Zelenskyj's behavior in the face of the Russian invasion of Ukraine commands the greatest respect from US expert Schmidt.

"In a moment of greatest danger, this man addressed the message to his people for the whole world to hear: 'Do not be afraid.'" That was impressive.

"We are suddenly reminded that the price of freedom is very high."

Volodymyr Zelenskyj surpasses himself in the Ukraine war

In fact, Volodymyr Zelenskyy was not really taken seriously for a long time.

He was a comedian who had no political experience until his election as Ukraine's president in 2019.

However, he had previously played a teacher who is unexpectedly elected president in the satirical television series Servant of the People.

However, that was all just fiction.

In reality, war is now raging in Ukraine.

And Volodymyr Zelenskyj surpasses himself in this situation.

The only question is whether he will survive the war.

(cs)