KYIV — Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy wants his Russian counterpart Vladimir Putin to spend the rest of his days in a basement, using a bucket for a toilet.
Zelenskyy made the remarks in a speech during a visit Monday to Yahidne — a village in the Chernihiv region of northern Ukraine where Russian troops kept Ukrainian civilians locked up in inhumane conditions in the early days of the Kremlin’s full-scale invasion.
In April last year, when Ukrainian soldiers liberated the village from the Russians, they discovered a school basement where Russians kept almost 400 residents captured for 27 days. Eleven people died during the illegal imprisonment in the basement.
On the anniversary of the liberation, Zelenskyy went down to the basement in Yahidne, spoke to the locals and thanked them for fighting bravely for their lives.
“After seeing all of this I can only wish Russian President Putin to spend the rest of his life in a basement with [a] bucket for a toilet,” Zelenskyy said.
“They waited for our soldiers to come. They survived to tell the world about the horrible tragedy brought on them by Russians and their leadership, their president,” he added. “We’ve heard about suffering, torture, inhuman treatment.”
According to Zelenskyy, before the occupation around 400 residents lived in Yahidne, and 370 of them were locked in the basement. “Grown-ups were writing the names of those who died and the dates of their deaths on the walls as they did not want to forget. And the children were writing the lines from the Ukrainian national anthem,” Zelenskyy said.
Zelenskyy visited Yahidne with German Vice Chancellor Robert Habeck, who made an unannounced visit Monday to Ukraine.
“It is very important for our partners to see this, to visit basements like this one to understand, to help Ukraine. And not search for diplomatic talks with the absolute killers,” Zelenskyy added.
