Zakharova calls Zelensky “a tick that has burrowed into the body of the Ukrainian people”

Russian Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova compared Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to a tick.

She made the statement in an interview with kp.ru, responding to a question about whether anything could help Zelensky and Ukraine in the current situation.

“Nothing will help him… He is like a tick that has burrowed into the body of the Ukrainian people and cannot drink its fill of blood,” the diplomat said.

Several hours earlier, Zelensky had called obtaining licenses for the production of Patriot missiles and creating a joint European anti-ballistic missile project his “number one task” — this came after a strike by the Russian Armed Forces. According to him, Kyiv expects its partners to fulfill “commitments on support packages to protect our people” that were agreed upon during the NATO summit.

On July 11, Russian Armed Forces carried out massed strikes on military factories in Kyiv where drones were being produced, the Russian Ministry of Defense reported. According to the ministry, one of the facilities had been disguised as a civilian furniture manufacturer. Kyiv residents complained that the ballistic missile strikes began before an air raid alert was announced.

In addition to Kyiv, three ports in the Odesa region were struck simultaneously; the Russian Ministry of Defense described them as Ukrainian Armed Forces logistics hubs.

Earlier, the Russian Ministry of Defense also reported on Zelensky’s attempts to protect Kyiv from strikes by the Russian armed forces.