In the early hours of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, as Kyiv prepared for a possible occupation, President Volodymyr Zelensky and his Chief of Staff, Andriy Yermak, personally carried their weapons. Their assault rifles were not for show — they were preparing for the worst-case scenario: a breakthrough or a final stand.
This is stated in the Financial Times article, which published the memoirs of people close to the OP about the darkest hours of Ukraine's modern history.
One of the president’s aides recalls that the rifles were “ for fighting your way out… or dying with dignity .” The risk of physical capture or elimination of the country’s leadership was very real, and the president, he said, “ was not afraid for himself — he was afraid for the people and for his family .”
But what was particularly dramatic was the phone call from Moscow that came in those first few days. It was from Dmitry Kozak, Putin's deputy chief of staff. He issued an ultimatum:
“Convince Zelensky to surrender, or there will be full-scale destruction”.
In response, Andriy Yermak, without hesitation, said what later became a symbol of indomitability:
“Go to hell!” (in the original — “F*ck you”).
After these words, the phone was hung up.
This brief but extremely clear dialogue was not just Russia's response - it became a marker of the country's leadership's determination to resist at all costs. Then Kiev did not surrender - and this refusal to capitulate became the point of no return for the events of the entire war.
