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Zelenskyy told Paul Ronzheimer, a reporter with German tabloid BILD, that Putin ‘has no clue’ about the destruction in Ukraine.
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More than 4.4 million Ukrainians have fled since the beginning of the invasion, according to the United Nations.
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Putin “has given his order, but does not know just how many people die every day,” Zelenskyy said.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Friday said he doesn’t believe Russian President Vladimir Putin truly knows the extent of the anguish Russian troops are inflicting on his country.
“I’m not sure if he understands at all what is happening,” Zelenskyy said in an interview with Paul Ronzheimer, a reporter with German tabloid BILD.
“If I had an overview on all of the attacks on our cities, on everything that is actually happening, about all the dead people every day in our country. I’m sure he has no clue what is actually happening.”
Ukrainians who spoke to Insider over the course of the ongoing invasion have painted a grim picture of the devastation.
They’ve described hearing missiles fire through the sky in the dead of night, having to share a single bulletproof vest as Russian soldiers tear through their towns, and troops shooting at homes and hospitals.
Putin “has given his order, but does not know just how many people die every day, what is happening in reality,” Zelenskyy told Ronzheimer.
“How many people, how many children die, how many buildings are destroyed, are burnt to the ground. He doesn’t know about all this and he doesn’t want to know. He just needs a result.”
The war has forced millions of Ukrainians to flee their homeland. So far, more than 4.4 million Ukrainians have escaped since the beginning of the invasion, according to data from the United Nations Refugee Agency. Just in the first week alone, more than 1 million Ukrainians left.
Zelenskyy has for weeks called on Western countries to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine in an effort to deter Russian missiles and airstrikes. Ordinary Ukrainian citizens have also renewed demand for the measure.
But President Joe Biden has resisted calls to implement one out of fear of a potential a war with Russia, another nuclear power. Some lawmakers, such as Sen. Marco Rubio of Florida, said the move could lead to World War III.
Early in March, Putin warned that any country that tries to impose a no-fly zone will be considered “participants in a military conflict, and it doesn’t matter members of which organizations they are.”
Editor’s note: BILD is owned by Axel Springer, Insider’s parent company.
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