Ukrainian President Zelenskyy Says He Will Not Accept American Evacuation Offer: ‘I Need Ammunition, Not a Ride,’

“Do not believe the fakes,” he captioned the 40-second clip. In the video, Zelenskyy says, according to a CNN translation, “I am here.”

“We are not putting down arms. We will be defending our country, because our weapon is truth, and our truth is that this is our land, our country, our children, and we will defend all of this,” he continues. “That is it. That’s all I wanted to tell you. Glory to Ukraine.”

According to the Ukrainian government, Russia began its invasion of Ukraine earlier this week. The onslaught is still ongoing, but explosions and airstrikes have been recorded, with threats escalating against Kyiv, a metropolis of 2.8 million people.

The international world has widely condemned Russian President Vladimir Putin’s aggressiveness toward Ukraine, notably with economic penalties and NATO forces massing in the region. Putin, 69, maintains that Ukraine has historical links to Russia and that he is intervening in the name of “peacekeeping.”

According to observers, much of Zelenskyy’s political success may be ascribed to the instability and revolution of 2014, when popular rallies brought Ukraine’s then-President Viktor Yanukovich to power.

By 2019, dissatisfaction with the country’s political class had become even more entrenched, assisting in the election of a political outsider to the highest office.