President Volodymyr Zelensky and First Lady Olena Zelenska spoke about their morning on February 24, when russia's full-scale military invasion of Ukraine began. They talked about this during the national telethon on Saturday, May 21, - correspondent of OstroV reports.
The presidential couple recalls that they met that morning at home, having woken up from loud sounds, similar to explosions.
"I remember that I woke up from strange sounds outside the window, probably, like everyone else. It was still dark, and I saw that Volodymyr was not around, so I went to the next room. He was already dressed in a suit, I asked what was happening, but he only answered: "It has begun", - Olena told.
Zelenska added that she could not convey those emotions – there were horror, astonishment and numbness. According to her, she had not seen her husband for some time since the beginning of the war, talking only on the phone.
The President, in turn, noted that he received calls before the shots began.
"We were ready some time before, because the intelligence and the military were watching. We understood where the risk of an offensive could come from. Therefore, when the shots started from there, I received a signal, they called me", - he said.
According to Zelensky, at that moment, he told his wife to explain everything to the children, because this is a war, there is no need to hide or invent anything.
"I arrived home very late on the eve of February 24, we discussed these issues at the NSDC, all the papers were prepared, the plan of what we will do. We did some things in advance, in particular, with regard to the state reserve… We lived in a constant hybrid war until this day, there were many attacks, including the cyber ones. Everything was long before the start of russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine, and we understood that certain preparations were underway, but no one fully understood the volume or impudence of the russian federation", - the head of state concluded.
As reported, russian president putin declared war on Ukraine and launched a large-scale invasion on February 24 at 3:40. Russian troops shell and destroy infrastructure facilities and carry out massive shelling of residential areas of Ukrainian cities and villages using artillery, multiple launch rocket systems and ballistic missiles.