‘They will find a reason to kill the killer… carnivores will eat the carnivore’: Zelensky predicts Putin’s ‘fragile’ regime will be toppled by his own people as he marks a year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine
- President Zelensky made the comments while filming a documentary marking the anniversary of the Russian invasion and subsequent war against Ukraine
- He claims there will be a time when Russians feel the ‘fragility’ of Putin’s regime
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has predicted Vladimir Putin‘s regime will eventually be toppled by his own people.
Speaking to journalist Dmytro Komarov in a documentary made to mark one year since the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Zelensky said: ‘There will certainly be a moment when the fragility of Putin’s regime is felt in Russia.
‘Then carnivores will eat the carnivore. It is very important, and they will need a reason to justify this.
‘They will recall the words of Komarov, of Zelenskyy. They will remember. They will find a reason to kill the killer.
‘Will it work? Yes. When? I don’t know.’
One year into the conflict and Putin, who expected a swift victory, has seen heavy casualties and defeat on the battlefield.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has predicted Vladimir Putin’s regime will eventually be toppled by his own people
It comes after Putin gave a speech earlier this week which condemned the West, blaming it for the war
Damaged buildings are seen after Russian S-300 missile attack as military mobility continues within the Russian-Ukrainian war in Shevchenkove village of Mykolaiv Oblast
This photograph taken on February 26, 2023, shows destroyed buildings and a car as a result of shelling in the village of Kamenka, Kharkiv region
Ukrainian serviceman of the “68 separate hunting brigade named after Olexa Dovbush” sits in the trench on the frontline position
Ukrainian servicemen of the 68th Separate Jager Infantry Brigade “Oleksa Dovbush” fire an M2 machine gun on a frontline position
Russia has also become increasingly isolated due to stringent sanctions from other countries, which have thrown their weight behind Ukraine.
According to the Washington Post, there is a wedge emerging between Putin and the country’s elite.
‘There is huge frustration among the people around him,’ a Russian billionaire told the paper. ‘He clearly doesn’t know what to do.
‘He is in isolation, of course. He doesn’t like speaking with people anyway. He has a very narrow circle, and now it has gotten narrower still’.
Putin has also faced a backlash over drafting Russia’s military reservists. It’s a move which has seen thousands of men flee the country and mass protests on the streets.
It comes after Putin made a speech this week, which accused the West of starting the war in Ukraine.
The despot claimed the West was plotting to achieve ‘limitless power’ and vowed to ‘systematically’ continue with the offensive in Ukraine during an explosive speech in Russia’s parliament.
He told lawmakers he was addressing them ‘at a time which we all know is a difficult, watershed moment for our country, a time of cardinal, irreversible changes around the world, the most important historic events that will shape the future of our country and our people’.
He added: ‘The responsibility for fuelling the Ukrainian conflict, for its escalation, for the number of victims… lies completely with Western elites.’
Reports from Russia suggest state employees and students have been ordered to attend a nationalistic concert after the speech, held at Moscow’s Luzhniki stadium, while signs have popped up around the city proclaiming that ‘Russia’s border does not end anywhere’ and telling people to ‘watch and listen’.
The US has slammed the ‘absurdity’ of Vladimir Putin’s state-of-the-nation speech on Tuesday in which he accused the West of starting the war in Ukraine
Volodymyr Zelensky said the most important thing for him is to make his family proud of him
Putin’s armoured motorcade was spotted heading to the Kremlin at around 1am local time, with traffic stopped in central Moscow to make way. There was no official explanation for Putin’s late night dash to the Kremlin ahead of the speech.
While the constitution mandates that the president deliver the speech annually, Putin never gave one in 2022, as his troops suffered repeated setbacks.
President Zelenskyy also gave a speech to mark the one-year anniversary of war, in which he got emotional when talking about how the war could end and about his wife, daughter and son.
He said: ‘My wife and my children are the most important people for me – I don’t get to see them very often but I am very happy to have this family. The most important thing is to make them proud of me.’
He also urged Moscow to change course and asked them to ‘leave our territory’ and to ‘stop bombing us’.
He added: ‘Stop (destroying) all our infrastructure, energy, drinking water. Stop bombing towns, villages, killing dogs and cats, simply animals, torching forests.’
He again repeated that there will be no negations with Russia until their troops withdraw from Ukraine.
He said: ‘Everyone has seen that they killed and tortured people-they are not even trying to hide their attacks, they are talking about nuclear matters.
‘Seeing this picture of the world, do you think Ukrianians can sit in this and negotiate?’
Ukraine expects to receive large supplies of Western weaponry in coming months that will help it mount a planned counteroffensive
Ukrainian servicemen of the 68th Separate Jager Infantry Brigade “Oleksa Dovbush” fire a howitzer towards Russian positions
Russian forces have suffered three major battlefield reversals since the war began but still control around one fifth of Ukraine (Pictured: Ukrainian soldiers)
In recent weeks, Ukrainian forces claimed to have inflicted huge casualties while repelling attacking Russian forces
China called for a ceasefire earlier this week, but Ukraine previously rejected a pause in the fighting for fear it would allow Russia to regroup militarily after bruising battlefield setbacks.
Mr Zelensky gave qualified support to China’s new pronouncements about the ceasefire and peace talks between Ukraine and Russia in a vaguely worded proposal released on Friday.
‘China has shown its thoughts. I believe that the fact that China started talking about Ukraine is not bad,’ the president said during a wide-ranging news conference.
‘But the question is what follows the words. The question is in the steps and where they will lead to.’
A 12-point paper issued by China’s Foreign Ministry also urged an end to sanctions that aim to squeeze Russia’s economy.
That suggestion also looked like a non-starter, given that Western nations are working to further tighten the sanctions noose, not loosen it. Both the UK and US imposed more sanctions on Friday.
Russian forces have suffered three major battlefield reversals since the war began but still control around one fifth of Ukraine. Russia is currently trying to secure full control of two eastern provinces forming Ukraine’s Donbas industrial region.
It has sent thousands of conscripts into Ukraine for a winter offensive but has secured only scant gains so far in assaults in frozen trenches up and down the eastern front in recent weeks.
Ukraine expects to receive large supplies of Western weaponry in coming months that will help it mount a planned counteroffensive. In recent weeks, Ukrainian forces claimed to have inflicted huge casualties while repelling attacking Russian forces.