Why did Russia fail to take Kyiv in 2022, according to Zelenskyy?

Zelenskyy rejected Trump's theory that a Russian general's wrong turn into muddy farmland saved Kyiv. Russia, he said, expected no resistance and sent far too few soldiers: holding every town on the road to Kyiv would have taken roughly 300,000 to 400,000. Volunteers swelled Ukraine's army from 200,000 to 800,000, and Ukrainian forces won the fight for Hostomel airport, where Russia planned to land a large force.

Zelenskyy said that if Russia had held Hostomel, it could likely have taken most of the capital.
Residents set Russian armored vehicles on fire when columns reached Kyiv's streets.

▸In their words

“They didn't even realize there would be resistance.” Volodymyr Zelenskyy · at 1:11:03 — open in the transcript →

Source: our own transcription of the episode. The full conversation is on The Diary Of A CEO with Steven Bartlett (2026-10-22). Read the whole episode summary →

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