Ukraine’s president has spoken of personal challenges, after several years of conflict with Ukraine, admitting “I’m not the best father” in a Sky News interview.
Speaking to international correspondent, Alex Rossi, Volodymyr Zelenskyy also praised the work of civilians to fix Ukraine’s energy systems after repeated Russian attacks, amid an extremely harsh winter.
On Thursday, he said Russia launched 420 drones and 39 missiles, injuring dozens of people and damaging buildings.
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During the interview in Kyiv, Mr Zelenskyy said there were “phenomenal people” who were repairing power supplies amid a “very difficult” winter.
“I mean, this was the harshest winter for a couple of decades… minus 20… at night minus 30.
“But it doesn’t matter, day or night, because if you don’t have heating, it’s difficult during the day, during the night… because minus 30 is so difficult, [a] big challenge for our people,” he said.
Speaking in English, the president talked about the sacrifices made by civilians to keep the lights on.
“Also with civilians, who are really very helpful during this war… we had absolutely heroic teams who renovated electricity, energy system and also we had losses because they did it [repairs] under missile attacks,” he said.
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But Mr Zelenskyy also accepted that his presidential role and responsibilities had taken their toll on his family.
“During the war, I’m not the best father… because I don’t have too much time for my children.
“I’m the president of Ukraine, I don´t compare my job… because my choice… is duty. My choice is Ukraine. That’s why I said I’m no good father during the war.”
Separately, Ukrainian and US officials met in Geneva on Thursday for talks on post-war reconstruction despite a deadlock in peace negotiations with Russia.
Mr Zelenskyy confirmed the next round of US-brokered peace negotiations will likely take place in Abu Dhabi in early March.
Ukrainian negotiator Rustem Umerov also said negotiators were working on finalising economic and security issues to “make the next trilateral meeting involving the US and Russia as substantive as possible”.
