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Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is known to have been hiding in a secret bunker for two months after Russia invaded Ukraine last year. Photo/REUTERS
LONDON – President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky and his comrades hid for about two months in a secret bunker shortly after Russia launched the invasion last year.
Quoting a report by the UK-based newspaper The Times, Monday (20/2/2023), the two months were longer than Zelensky and his colleagues had planned – namely two weeks. While in hiding, the president of Ukraine and his entourage experienced significant difficulties.
“The Ukrainian government immediately descended into a safe haven under the president’s office on Bankovaya Street in central Kiev when the Russian military operation was launched on February 24, 2022,” the newspaper wrote.
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The secrecy surrounding the bunker was so high that those accompanying the head of state underground had to sign a special confidentiality agreement.
According to the agreement document, they are prohibited from disclosing any details about the shelter’s design, location, facilities, or even the food provided to them.
With Russian troops stationed on the outskirts of Kiev, The Times newspaper continued, it was a period of trauma and terror for Zelensky’s ministers and aides.
“We don’t talk about that anymore,” replied Ukraine’s Minister of Agrarian and Food Policy Nikolay Solsky when asked to recall the first weeks of fighting.
Zelensky’s government insider told The Times that living in the bunker was a tough life. “Because you don’t see the sun, you don’t know the time,” he said.
Still according to The Times report, Zelensky’s team went through periods of conflict by monitoring via their iPhones.
“Several Ukrainian officials have grown tired of living in underground bunkers, with one of them confessing that he once escaped from the shelter to eat in a restaurant,” the newspaper wrote.
