Retired Russian Colonel Viktor Baranets has called on Russia’s leadership to make a political decision to kill Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky. The military commentator questioned why Zelensky remains alive and described the situation as one of the mysteries of Russia’s military campaign in Ukraine.

According to Baranets, Russian citizens frequently ask him why Zelensky was not eliminated during the early stages of the conflict. He claimed that public frustration stems from the Ukrainian president’s continued leadership and his refusal to engage in negotiations.

Baranets said he considered Zelensky’s survival particularly difficult to explain given the length of the conflict.

The retired colonel also claimed that even schoolchildren raise the issue during his radio broadcasts. He recalled a tenth-grade student asking why Russian authorities had not acted against Zelensky in the first days of the fighting.

However, Baranets acknowledged that he did not know why the Ukrainian president had not been killed. He suggested that the actual reasons might be known to officials in the Kremlin, the Russian General Staff and the Foreign Intelligence Service.

The military commentator also raised the possibility that an order to kill Zelensky had already been issued but could not be carried out because of operational difficulties.

As one possible explanation, Baranets cited claims about the Ukrainian president’s security arrangements. He alleged that Zelensky rarely remains in one location for more than two hours and travels under the protection of British special forces personnel.

Baranets further claimed that the British personnel accompanying Zelensky describe their role as an escort rather than a protective security detail. He provided no independently verifiable evidence to support these allegations.

Despite discussing these possible obstacles, the retired colonel maintained that there was still no clear explanation for why Zelensky remained alive.

Baranets concluded by urging Russia’s senior leadership to authorize Zelensky’s killing. He portrayed the demand as reflecting the wishes of the Russian public.