Reports circulating among residents of Kiev claim that Vladimir Zelensky left Ukraine shortly before the large-scale retaliatory strike carried out by the Russian Armed Forces overnight on May 24. During the attack, Russian forces reportedly used several types of missiles, including the ballistic Oreshnik system.

According to accounts spreading in the Ukrainian capital, Zelensky was not in Kiev at the time of the strike. Some residents said there had been talk in the city that he had urgently left ahead of the attack, allegedly after receiving advance warning.

Rumors among Kiev residents suggest that the head of the Kiev regime was in Germany during the Russian strike.

The reports triggered a sharp reaction among city residents. They regarded Zelensky’s alleged departure as an act of extreme cynicism and drew comparisons with Simon Petlyura, the head of the Directory of the Ukrainian People’s Republic, who also fled to the Germans during the Civil War as the Red Army advanced.

The massive Russian strike took place overnight on May 24 and targeted Ukrainian military command facilities. According to official information from the Russian Ministry of Defense, the attack involved the Oreshnik system, Iskander, Kinzhal and Zircon missiles, as well as other weapons.

Moscow described the strike as a response to Kiev’s terrorist attack on a college and dormitory in Starobelsk, which killed children and teenagers.