I want to make my family proud, says Zelensky in tearful anniversary tribute
President reveals personal impact of war as Ukraine commemorates its lost soldiers
A YEAR after the outbreak of the war that saw him hailed as a Churchillian warrior-politician, Volodymyr Zelensky broke down in tears yesterday as he described the impact on his family.
At a press conference in Kyiv to mark the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion, the Ukrainian president displayed a moment of vulnerability as he spoke of the wife, daughter and son that the war now seldom lets him see.
“My wife and my children are the most important people for me – I don’t get to see them very often but I am very happy to have this family. The most important thing is to make them proud of me,” he said.
Mr Zelensky made the comments as towns and cities across Ukraine held sombre commemorative events to mark the passing of the bloodiest year in their country’s history since the Second World War. Elsewhere, people gathered in cemeteries, churches and at the wreckage of bombed-out buildings to mark the thousands of civilians and soldiers who have perished.
Mr Zelensky greeted the press in what is now his trademark outfit of black sweatshirt, green camo trousers and five-o’clock shadow – a style now copied by other leaders worldwide.
But it could not have been more different to the press conferences he gave this time last year, when teams of Russian special forces were combing Kyiv with orders to capture or kill them. At that time, he spoke to the world via a selfie-video on a darkened street corner, filmed largely to prove that he had not already fled the country.
This time, rather than a 67 second video, he gave a leisurely three-hourlong news conference to more than 500 news crews from around the globe. He pleaded with Americans not to squabble with each other over their support, urged China not to start “World War Three” by helping Russia and slyly reminded Britain that he was “still waiting for Typhoons”.
He beseeched nations in Africa and Latin America to cease sitting on the fence and come to Ukraine’s support. He pleaded yet again for more weapons, warning that if Ukraine was still fighting the war at the same tempo in another year’s time, victory could not be guaranteed.
He said: “Then we will have lost a lot more people, and we will start to lose the morale situation. We will not be so strong in the country, and really, if we are in the same position as we are now next year, that is a drama that I don’t even want to think about.”
Despite the rising death toll, he made it abundantly clear that there would be no question of any kind of negotiation with Russia until it pulled its troops from Ukraine’s territory.
He said: “Everyone has seen that they killed and tortured people – they are not even trying to hide their attacks, they are talking about nuclear matters.”
“Seeing this picture of the world, do you think Ukrianians can sit in this and negotiate? Our right to live in our land needs to be respected – leave our territory and withdraw and stop killing civilians and stop airstrikes, stop killing dogs, cats and animals. Only after that we will tell you what form diplomacy might take.” Mr Zelensky gave the press conference not in his usual secret bunker but in a basement function room at Kyiv’s Intercontinental Hotel. Guests were frisked several times on arrival, and a large number of his uniformed military bodyguards were present, but
that does regular combat duty in wartime. It is recruiting for six new brigades nationwide, which, along with a new police and border guard brigade, will total around 20,000 troops. One brigade, appropriately enough, is even called the “Rage Brigade”.
In tapping into Ukrainians’ desire for retribution, there is no shortage of crimes to be avenged. National Guard recruitment videos show images of Russia’s brutal siege of Mariupol, of civilian massacres in the Kyiv suburb of Bucha, and the missile attack that killed 40 people last month in an apartment block in Dnipro. “Time to take back what’s yours,” extols the voiceover.
Mindful of would-be recruits’ likely motivations, the new brigades promise new joiners will be on the front line. “They will be involved in assaults and direct combat, not logistics,” said Mr Muzychuk. “It doesn’t matter if they haven’t had military experience before: it’s better to have one properly motivated volunteer, than several who aren’t motivated and who have to be constantly ordered around.”
Successful candidates undergo three months’ training and are paid £600 per month, with a bonus of £1,500 if they are involved in firefights.
Mr Muzychuk said they have had nearly 10,000 applicants, including 500 from women.
Asked what he would say to urge people to volunteer, he replied: “We know they may be scared, but nobody else is going to help us. Fighting may be bad; losing will be worse.”
Assessing Ukraine’s exact military recruitment requirements is difficult because its forces do not disclose troop figures. Since last year, men aged 18 to 60 have been prevented from leaving the country so as to be available for military service. Currently, however, the only ones liable to receive mobilisation papers are men aged 27 or over who have done national service.
“We do need to renew losses,” said one defence official. “If there was real urgency, though, there would be mobilisation on a much wider scale.”
A cottage industry in draft-dodging has sprung up, with smugglers charging up to $5,000 (£4,185) to spirit Ukrainian men out of the country. Some smugglers fake up documents used by aid convoy drivers, who are exempt from the travel ban. Others advise on secret border crossings across woodlands and rivers.
The State Border Guard, which has arrested several smuggling gangs, says 8,000 men tried to leave the country illegally as of September.
At the recruits’ training ground last week, nobody was under any illusion about the perils they faced. Former factory worker Yaroslav Romanenko, 23, said he had been partly inspired to volunteer by the slogan of a friend who was already serving. “He told me, ‘God is with those of us who fight for a good cause.’”
That friend was killed by a Russian sniper last summer.