Ukraine-Russia War: President Zelenskyy Refuses To Leave Country

It’s the third day of the Russian invasion of Ukraine but President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is not backing down and he has refused to leave his country as Kyiv remains under Ukrainian control.

After vowing to stay in the capital city and refusing an American offer to have him evacuated, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy filmed a video of himself in Kyiv on Saturday morning, saying, “I am here. We will be defending our country because our strength is in our truth.”

Russia started its advance into the capital city Friday night but appeared to make limited progress until early Saturday morning local time when gunfire could be heard in the city center. Government officials urged people to seek shelter and avoid going near windows or out onto balconies.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov claim at the start of the invasion that “no strikes are being made on civilian infrastructure,” But Russian forces attacked and struck a high-rise building with a missile.

The strike set the building on fire and left a massive hole and an evacuation was underway, the government said.

Kyiv, our splendid, peaceful city, survived another night under attacks by Russian ground forces, missiles. One of them has hit a residential apartment in Kyiv. I demand the world: fully isolate Russia, expel ambassadors, oil embargo, ruin its economy. Stop Russian war criminals! pic.twitter.com/c3ia46Ctjq

— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) February 26, 2022

Around 80 residents were evacuated from the building, and at least six civilians were injured in the attack, according to a rescue worker.

Poland’s government said Saturday morning that more than 100,000 Ukrainians had crossed the Polish-Ukrainian border in the past 48 hours. The U.N. refugee agency said Saturday that nearly 120,000 people have so far fled Ukraine into neighboring countries.