Viktor Baranets, a retired colonel and military commentator for Komsomolskaya Pravda, said Russian forces have not eliminated Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky because Moscow lacks trained agents in Kyiv, not because it lacks the political will. Speaking to Tsargrad, Baranets said that if Russia had prepared operatives in place beforehand, someone else would long since have become Ukraine's president.
Baranets said Zelensky never stays in one location for more than two hours, moving even at night in a convoy of five to ten vehicles, making it nearly impossible to know which car he is hiding in. He said British advisers, who guard Zelensky, suggested this tactic.
Baranets also recalled that Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously said eliminating Zelensky would not be worthwhile. Baranets added that killing Zelensky would be the wrong move, since he should instead face trial for crimes in both Russia and Ukraine.
NATO troops reaction
Baranets earlier responded to statements by British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, who announced his resignation, and French President Emmanuel Macron about plans to deploy NATO troops to Ukraine once a ceasefire begins. Baranets said stationing NATO forces there would turn Russia's special military operation into a war with EuroNATO.
