Zelenskyy shows the simple bedroom at his office that he has called home since Russia invaded Ukraine

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy at a news conference in Kyiv, Ukraine, on February 15, 2023.

Efrem Lukatsky/AP Photo

• Volodymyr Zelenskyy showed the spartan room he has lived in since Russia invaded a year ago.
• The small room off his office contains a single bed, a sink, and other modest furnishings.
• Ukraine's president gave a tour of his office to a journalist for a documentary marking a year of the war.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has mainly lived in a simple, austere room in his office since Russia invaded Ukraine a year ago.

"This is my home, I live here," Zelenskyy said while giving journalist Dmytro Komarov a tour of his office as part of a new documentary.

The small room contains a single bed, a sink, and other modest furnishings.

—ҐРУНТ (@grntmedia) February 24, 2023

 

Zelenskyy recounted waking up at home with his family on the day of the invasion and how he came to his office, where he has since spent most of his time as a wartime president.

"I love my family, but for me, as president, being here was a priority," he said.

In April of last year, two months into the war, Ukraine's First Lady Olena Zelenska said that she had not seen her husband in person since the war began.

In the documentary, Zelenskyy also showed off his closet, filled with his now signature casual and mostly khaki-colored clothing, as well as some suits that he said he is looking forward to wearing after the war.

He also showed the journalist the back room from which he made international phone calls and spoke to dozens of world leaders on the morning of the invasion.

One leader he said he did not speak to was his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin. Zelenskyy said that while he had made efforts to speak to Putin directly before the invasion, he had been repeatedly rebuffed.

When asked if he would now speak to Putin, Zelenskyy said: "No. Now I am not ready to talk to him."

The Ukrainian president also explained why he chose to stay in the country despite being warned that he was a target and that he should pack up and leave.

"I didn't think about what would happen, about myself," Zelenskyy said. "Again, this isn't about bravery. I thought about the consequences of my leaving and what would happen."

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