Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky gave a glimpse into his top-secret underground bunker when he showed the world inside his war rooms.
Mr Zelensky will be welcomed by King Charles on Sunday, just days after he met with US President Donald Trump. The monarch, who has previously shown his support for Zelensky and Ukraine, will meet him at his Sandringham Estate in Norfolk.
A spokesman for Zelensky confirmed the news, saying: “Tomorrow (Sunday), there will be a series of bilateral meetings, including one with King Charles III and the European leaders' meeting on supporting Ukraine.” It comes after the heroic leader took the step of revealing what goes on inside the Kyiv shelter where he has lived for the past three years.
To mark the one-year anniversary of Russia's invasion of his country, Zelensky opened up his bunker in 2023 and showed Ukrainian journalist Dmytro Komarov inside.
Showing just how small the space is, the home where he makes critical decisions and holds meetings was where he was sitting in the early hours of February 24, 2022, when he was informed of the Russian invasion. In the documentary called 'Year,' reporter Mr Komarov shared footage from the president's base littered with photos of his family. There was also a bust of inspirational wartime leader Winston Churchill in an office decked out with Ukrainian flags.
President Zelensky shared details of that fateful day as the illegal war was launched by Vladimir Putin. He told him: "It's very difficult to remember all the details. I got a call that it all had started.
"We woke up with my wife, my family, my son, my daughter. I definitely thought about waking the kids up, packing up everyone. To tell the kids what is happening, that the war had started. They are adults, they must understand what's happening. I left very fast. I love my family, but for me as president, being here was a priority."
A government insider told The Times that staying in the bunker was a tough existence as “you don’t see the sun, you don’t know the time." During this time he did not see his wife, Olena, nor his two children.
Once he emerged from his bunker he was not shy of heading to the frontlines, walking through trenches and doing displays of solidarity in central Kyiv. Zelensky added that he hadn't had the time to think over the impact of the war on his young family.
"We didn't have time for such romance, because we've been kind of busy," he said. "The only thing I remember I was thinking about [after the invasion] was this office, the phones, the team I have to gather now.
"Everything had changed. Life had changed. And it was impossible to return to what was before," he added.
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