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21 May 2022, 04:41 PM

Zelensky told Poland’s Duda about imminent Russian invasion

During his visit to Kyiv on the eve of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, Polish President Andrzej Duda was told the war was imminent by his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky, Duda told Polish news outlet Polska Times on May 19.

Russia's war against Ukraine - the main events of May 21

During a “moving” meeting with Duda, Zelensky told the Polish president that Russia will attack Ukraine in several hours.

“I heard (from Zelensky): Russians think we won’t resist, but they are wrong,” said Duda.

“We have experienced soldiers who have been fighting for eight years, and they do it well; Ukraine and its army are very different from what they were back in 2014. Zelensky concluded by saying ‘Andrzej, this could be our last meeting.’”

Duda described Zelensky as “a friend,” and said he called the Ukrainian leader every day following the start of the war.

“I was in Kyiv several hours before the attack. We left Ukraine literally hours before (the invasion); As we parted, Zelensky told me he was certain that Ukraine will be attacked in the coming hours,” the president said.

Earlier, Zelensky said that Poland and the Baltic states have been at the vanguard of the international support of Ukraine.

On April 13, the leaders of Poland, Estonia, Lithuania, and Latvia visited Kyiv, in a show of support to Ukraine, as the country was defending itself in the war of Russian aggression.

That same month, Secretary of Ukraine’s National Security and Defense Council, Oleksiy Danilov, said that while the government knew about the imminent Russian invasion, it couldn’t warn the citizens as the news may have resulted in widespread panic.

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