Motorist rams car carrying Zelensky

KYIV, Ukraine (AFP) — A motorist collided with a vehicle carrying Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky as his motorcade passed through Kyiv, though the president was not seriously injured in the accident, his spokesperson said early Thursday morning.

"In Kyiv, a passenger car collided with the car of the President of Ukraine and escort vehicles," spokesperson Sergiy Nikiforov said in a statement posted on Facebook at 1:22 a.m. local time.

"Medics accompanying the President provided the driver of the passenger car with emergency aid and transferred him to an ambulance," he continued.

"The president was examined by a doctor, no serious injuries were detected. The law enforcement officers will investigate all the circumstances of the accident."

In his nightly televised address, video of which was posted shortly after the accident, Zelensky said he had just returned from the area around Kharkiv, adding that "almost the entire region is de-occupied" after a lightning counteroffensive to dislodge Russian troops.

"It was an unprecedented movement of our soldiers — the Ukrainians once again managed to do what many thought was impossible," Zelensky said.

The war in Ukraine is entering a decisive phase, with Kyiv's forces expelling Russian troops from swathes of the east, appearing to seriously challenge the Kremlin's ambition to capture the entire Donbas region.