Volodymyr Zelenskyy refused evacuation as Russian hitmen ‘parachuted’ into Kyiv
Ukrainian president turned down opportunity to leave capital despite threat to life, adviser claims

A close adviser to Volodymyr Zelenskyy has revealed how the Ukrainian president refused to be evacuated from Kyiv even as Russian assassination squads tried to storm the capital to kill him.
Oleksiy Arestovych, a veteran of Ukraine’s military intelligence service, told Time that as the president’s HQ came under attack at the start of the invasion, those inside defended themselves with automatic weapons and built rudimentary defences.
Describing the scene, Arestovych said: “It was an absolute madhouse. Automatics for everyone. The place was wide open. We didn’t even have concrete blocks to close the street.”
Subscribe to The Week
Escape your echo chamber. Get the facts behind the news, plus analysis from multiple perspectives.

Sign up for The Week's Free Newsletters
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
From our morning news briefing to a weekly Good News Newsletter, get the best of The Week delivered directly to your inbox.
The military then “informed Zelenskyy that Russian strike teams had parachuted into Kyiv to kill or capture him and his family”, the magazine said. Both UK and US forces then “offered to evacuate Zelenskyy and allow him to set up a government in exile”, The Telegraph reported. “But he never seriously thought about it.”
Explaining his decision not to flee, Zelenskyy told Time that he was sending a message to the people of Ukraine. “You understand that they’re watching,” he said. “You’re a symbol. You need to act the way the head of state must act.”
In the early days of the invasion, the president would wake before dawn and have his first meeting with his top general at 5am, “before the light began peeking through the sandbags in the windows of the compound”, Time reported.
As the war progressed, it then became “typical for the president and his staff to gather around a phone or laptop in the bunker”, the magazine added, “cursing images of devastation or cheering a drone strike on a Russian tank”.
Sign up for Today's Best Articles in your inbox
A free daily email with the biggest news stories of the day – and the best features from TheWeek.com
-
How will the MoD's new cyber command unit work?
Today's Big Question Defence secretary outlines plans to combat 'intensifying' threat of cyberattacks from hostile states such as Russia
-
What are the different types of nuclear weapons?
The Explainer Speculation mounts that post-war taboo on nuclear weapons could soon be shattered by use of 'battlefield' missiles
-
The secret lives of Russian saboteurs
Under The Radar Moscow is recruiting criminal agents to sow chaos and fear among its enemies
-
Ukraine-Russia: is peace deal possible after Easter truce?
Today's Big Question 'Decisive week' will tell if Putin's surprise move was cynical PR stunt or genuine step towards ending war
-
What's behind Russia's biggest conscription drive in years?
Today's Big Question Putin calls up 160,000 men, sending a threatening message to Ukraine and Baltic states
-
Is the 'coalition of the willing' going to work?
Today's Big Question PM's proposal for UK/French-led peacekeeping force in Ukraine provokes 'hostility' in Moscow and 'derision' in Washington
-
Can Ukraine make peace with Trump in Saudi Arabia?
Talking Point Zelenskyy and his team must somehow navigate the gap between US president's 'demands and threats'
-
Ukraine: where do Trump's loyalties really lie?
Today's Big Question 'Extraordinary pivot' by US president – driven by personal, ideological and strategic factors – has 'upended decades of hawkish foreign policy toward Russia'