The secret assassination plots, scandals and four-year war that left Volodymyr Zelensky battered – but still standing
CNN
As Russian tanks rolled over the border, rumors that Volodymyr Zelensky had fled Ukraine were rife. Then he posted a grainy video of himself standing in the dark in front of the presidency building.
As Russian tanks rolled over the border in February 2022, rumors that Volodymyr Zelensky had fled Ukraine were rife. With Kyiv under heavy bombardment and Russia closing in, European leaders feared the worst. Then the Ukrainian leader posted a grainy video of himself standing in the dark in front of the presidency building, flanked by his top advisors, and announced simply: “We are here.”
Zelensky’s removal was a key part of Russia’s plan to take over Ukraine – a project Moscow expected to complete in days. He was to be taken or killed, unless he ran away first. A source close to the president told CNN that Russian agents had rented apartments in the immediate vicinity of the presidential office, with an order to eliminate him.
At one point early in the war, a joke went around that Zelensky became a comedian – the career he pursued before entering politics – because he was not afraid of bombing. In those early days, Zelensky’s uncanny capacity for survival and humor encapsulated the defiant mood of the country. The story as told by the Ukrainians, is that when the US offered to evacuate him, Zelensky shot back: “I need ammunition, not a ride.”
As Ukraine prepares to mark the fourth anniversary of Russia’s full-scale invasion on Tuesday, and with no end to the war in sight, Zelensky’s message hasn’t changed. He’s still there, having survived not only around a dozen Russian assassination attempts but also a corruption scandal that last year brought down his closest adviser, who stood beside him in that now-famous video, and two of his top government ministers.
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