Volodymyr Zelenskiy to EL PAÍS, on the new Russian offensive against Kyiv: ‘Putin isn’t afraid of Europeans’

One way Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy confronts Russian attacks and seeks to show resolve is by appearing in the most dangerous places. He has done so since his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, launched the full-scale invasion in February 2022. At that time, Kyiv was the Kremlin’s primary target, but the attempt was beaten back. In recent weeks, Moscow has increased its aerial attacks and bombs the city day and night, hitting numerous civilian targets. “They want Ukrainians — especially those in the capital — to leave. In fact, that’s what they were aiming for when the full-scale invasion began,” Zelenskiy said during a conversation with EL PAÍS while visiting a school that had been attacked on Thursday morning in Kyiv.

“Putin’s tactic is to escalate the conflict as much as possible, and he will do so. And as the U.S. midterm elections approach, he will do so more and more,” the Ukrainian president predicts, referring to the vote in which the House of Representatives and one-third of the Senate are up for reelection, which will take place on November 3 in the United States and will serve to gauge the level of support for President Donald Trump.

“Remember that in 2022, that was their goal: to get people to leave the capital to prove that, if you don’t have the capital, you don’t have a country,” but “our country is more than just the capital, and the capital remains strong,” he adds, surrounded by his security team in a city where cellphone alerts and air raid sirens sound incessantly to warn the population of attacks. In addition to bombing the school, the Russians also managed to hit one of the bridges over the Dnipro River with a drone just as a subway train was crossing it.

“These are not military targets, nor are they on the front lines,” Zelenskiy emphasizes. “They are attacking to paralyze the city and prevent people from going to school or work, since their children cannot attend classes or daycare because of all these attacks,” the president asserts in the schoolyard, about 20 meters from the building’s facade, which was struck by a drone.

“They’re trying to plunge Ukraine into chaos, and of course it’s understandable that people are becoming demoralized,” he says in a serious tone. The first thing the president lists among the enemy’s objectives is logistics — including essentials such as food and hospital supplies. Agriculture is also a target, since Ukraine is considered one of the world’s breadbaskets, and he concludes with educational institutions. All of this is aimed at “simply destroying people’s ability to live.”

Moments before the president appeared at the school, where classes had already begun when the attack occurred, the sirens sounded again. Not far from the school, trails of smoke were visible in the sky while the explosions caused by local air defenses were heard. No one moved among the delegation waiting at the school and the scheduled program continued. Among the men accompanying the president was one who kept scanning the sky in all directions with binoculars. Following protocol, students were moved to the bunker and, despite the damage, there were no casualties.

Valentín, a 14-year-old student, hangs around near the swings and is glad he overslept and didn’t go to class. “That floor is the library, the one below is the computer lab…” he explains as he points to the upper floors of the building where the fire and the shock wave have left their mark.

“The world can trust the Kremlin’s messages and expect that Putin will escalate his actions as the elections approach to demonstrate his strength,” Zelenskiy says. Russia “is not afraid of Europeans, nor is it affected by sanctions, and, of course, it directs its messages primarily at the United States,” he adds. At the same time, he recalls his conversations with Trump’s negotiating team, led by Jared Kushner and Steve Witkoff, who visited Kyiv on September 6. “I warned them that they would see — especially after the election — massive attacks that would directly affect the civilian population,” the president notes, as if in a premonition. In any case, he remains confident in the role Trump could play in bringing an end to the invasion, despite the clashes the two have experienced.

Beyond Washington’s role — which has often been aligned with Moscow — Zelenskiy points to some of those who, in his view, are currently Putin’s allies. “China, India, and other countries are really helpful in allowing him to circumvent sanctions” and “they also provide military equipment,” in addition to “the Iranians,” who offer their “military expertise with drones.” Tehran, the Ukrainian leader believes, is the source of much of the military might Moscow has amassed in the current war.

Despite everything, the Ukrainian president defends the arms and defense industry revolution that is enabling his country to stand up to one of the world’s leading military and economic powers. “We are facing massive attacks that are very difficult to repel, but we are managing to prevail and we have a large domestic production capacity for defensive drones and other systems,” he explains. However, he then points out the major defensive vulnerability posed by the lack of the necessary weaponry to counter ballistic missiles, which, according to statistics from this year, hit their targets more than 90% of the time.

Zelenskiy never tires of repeating that Kyiv will continue to seek additional funding to try to address domestic weapons shortages. And they must do so, he emphasizes, given the changing nature of the war — especially due to advances in weaponry and tactics — which now bears little resemblance to the conflict that started on February 24, 2022. But no matter how much they obtain, “it won’t be enough,” he says.

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