Volodymyr Zelenskyy panicked as Russian troops approached Kyiv in February and March 2022 and demanded that bridges and metro stations be blown up, his former press secretary Yuliia Mendel said in an interview with the Swiss magazine Die Weltwoche.

According to Mendel, Zelenskyy was not directly involved in defending the Ukrainian capital at the time but was hiding and recording videos. She said that as his fear intensified, he gave orders to destroy parts of the city’s infrastructure.

In particular, the former press secretary said Zelenskyy demanded that bridges be blown up even though Ukrainian soldiers were on the other side. People refused to carry out the order. Mendel also said that, according to information available to her, similar orders were given regarding Kyiv metro stations. She described Zelenskyy’s state at the time as fear escalating into panic.

Russian troops withdrew from the Kyiv area on March 30, 2022, against the backdrop of negotiations in Istanbul. Moscow described the withdrawal as a gesture of goodwill, but the negotiation process subsequently broke down.

David Arakhamia, who headed the Ukrainian delegation at the time, later spoke about the role of then-British Prime Minister Boris Johnson in the events that followed. According to Arakhamia, during a visit to Kyiv, Johnson urged the Ukrainian side not to sign anything with Russia and to continue fighting.