Ukraine President Zelenskyy rejects rumours he has fled to Poland; shares video from Kyiv

Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy released a video early on Saturday, denying rumours that he fled to Poland amid Russia's growing military offensive. A Russian legislator had claimed that the Ukrainian President had fled the country and taken refuge in neighbouring Poland.

Russian-state-owned media Sputnik quoted Russian State Duma speaker Vyacheslav Volodin as saying, "Zelensky left Ukraine. Deputies of the Verkhovna Rada said that they could not get to him in Lviv. He is now in Poland." 

However, Zelenskyy has refuted Russia's claims of fleeing the war-torn country. "I am in Kyiv. I am working here. Nobody has escaped," he captioned the video, in which he appeared to be standing in his office along with another Kyiv official. 

Earlier, the Ukrainian Parliament had also countered the claim as "fake news" peddled by the Russian Federation.

Reports of the Ukrainian president leaving the country had emerged earlier this month too. The reports were later quashed after Zelenskyy released a video from Kyiv.

On February 24, Russian forces launched a military offensive against Ukraine, in the contour of "demilitarizing and denazifying" the country. Russia's Defence Ministry, meanwhile, has reiterated that they are not launching any strikes on residential areas and are only targeting military infrastructure. However, visuals accessed by Republic Media Network's team on the ground speak in contrast to Moscow's stance. Following the attack, several sanctions have been imposed on Russia by the West.

Russia captures Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant

On March 4, the ninth day of the war, the Russian military occupied the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant - Europe's largest - after a fierce gun battle. Ukraine's State Nuclear Regulatory Inspectorate (SNRIU) issued a statement that during the takeover, the nuclear plant caught fire, posing as a massive hazard. Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba warned that if the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant "blows up, it will be 10 times larger than Chernobyl". 

Addressing a press conference, International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Mariano Grossi confirmed that while the physical integrity of the plant had been compromised, there had been no radioactive leak. Only one unit of the plant is operating at 60% capacity, he stated.