« No doubt they not only have this list, but have ordered special units do that, » Ukraine’s former ambassador to the U.S. told Newsweek from Kyiv.
Current and former Ukrainian politicians have told Newsweek they will not be cowed by Russia’s invasion and reports that Moscow’s forces have a « kill list » of prominent figures to neutralize in an occupation. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy told Ukrainians Thursday that he would remain in Kyiv and his family in Ukraine, even as Russian forces advanced towards the capital from the Belarus border to the north. « The enemy marked me as target number one, and my family as target number two, » Zelenskyy said in his televised address. « I stay in the capital, I stay with my people… My family is also in Ukraine. My children are also in Ukraine. « My family is not traitors. They are the citizens of Ukraine. » Russian air and missile strikes on the capital intensified overnight Thursday. As of Friday morning, fighting had been reported in the Kyiv suburb of Obolon, with officials warning that Russian special forces and saboteurs—some allegedly wearing Ukrainian military fatigues and driving captured Ukrainian vehicles—were planning raids and assassinations inside the government quarter. Among their targets could be current and former politicians, perceived by the Kremlin as threats to their subjugation of Ukraine.
