He spoke to Habertürk, the Turkish journalist who took the photos.
The world saw the last photos of Ukraine’s leader Zelenskiy from the frames taken from the lens of Reuters photojournalist Ümit Bektaş.
Bektaş spoke to Afşın Yurdakul on Habertürk TV. Here is the story of those photos:
The Russian Ministry of Defense announced yesterday that it will hit some government buildings in Kiev. Our request for an interview was accepted. They set off and let us in at a point near the Presidential Palace. We haven’t been to any incredible place. I say this as someone who has seen Bosnia and other places. We conducted the interview on the ground floor of a place belonging to the Presidential buildings. There is serious tension in every chack pointe. We proceeded very slowly and came to the chack point. We said, ‘We’re here to interview the president. We were put in another car.
“ZELENSKY LOOKED VERY COMFORTABLE”
We arrived at the President’s palace. We came to the last entrance gate, passing through a new security measure at the gate. We came to the protocol entrance gate in normal times. There was complete blackout. Soldiers were positioned inside the corridors with sandbags. Then Zelensky came. I thought it would take like 10 minutes. It’s very comfortable. I ‘stop there’ vs. said. He said to me, ‘I will do as you say, calm down’. We were going to speak English, he said, ‘I am the representative of the Ukrainian people, so I will speak Ukrainian’. Half an hour left in total. Then we took a souvenir photo. We can say that we talked for 40 minutes in total. I saw him for the first time. I’ve watched press conferences before, but not this closely. I’ve taken pictures before.
“NO! HE SAID I’LL STOP HERE”
Frankly, I was nervous. I thought the people around would be nervous too. Zelenesky was very relaxed. He had a determined stance. He got a little emotional at the questions about his family. He was surprised that he hadn’t seen them for days. First he said 6 days, then he fixed it. When I said ‘Can I take your picture in the office’ he said ‘Not that much anymore’ and we laughed. I don’t know his identity that I can call his advisor. There were 3 people around him. It seemed to me as if they were his private pen and close colleagues. They had close guards. If we look at the palace in terms of security; We were not underground. What is interesting to me is that there are chack points gradually around the outside of the building, there are barriers, and many places are surrounded. So it is difficult to enter the palace. After entering, the sandbags inside caught my attention, the soldiers even showed us directions with their phones. They had filmed so that some windows wouldn’t burst. There are soldiers in every corridor. Other than that, nothing catches my attention. Security guards came and said, ‘Let the President stand two steps down, he is seen from the outside when he stands here.’ But he objected, said ‘No, I’ll stay here’ and was not nervous.
“Kyiv IS NOW TURNED INTO A DEAD CITY”
It was as if no one was expecting it, including us. That such a thing does not happen. We were looking at something to come but to be solved with diplomacy. We were very surprised when the operation started and suddenly life in Kiev ended. Markets and gas stations are closed. It has turned into a completely dead city. Crowds retreated from the streets. People shopped at the markets on the first day. Now there are queues in pharmacies. There is a tense wait right now.
“There are fortifications all over the city”
40 km for the first time today. I’m out. There is an effort to set up an incredible barricade on the roads. There are places where concrete blocks are brought. The bridge is already closed. It is possible to enter and exit with identity checks. I don’t know how big of a siege it will be, but it’s clear that heavy defensive fortifications are being built all over the city.
