Ukraine war: Does Zelenskyy’s most trusted security adviser have a message for the UK’s new prime minister?
In the centre of Kyiv – protected by checkpoints, sandbags, soldiers and guns – stands the city’s military heart.
It is here that we meet Oleksiy Danilov, head of the country’s national security council – President Zelenskyy’s most trusted security adviser.
Mr Danilov is not a shrinking violet. We speak for 20 or 30 minutes, during which time his dark gaze never moves from me and his focus never dips. He is resolute the war will be won and Russia will suffer its consequences.
Determined, too, that we should know the respect and affection he holds for the United Kingdom. Does he, I wonder, have a message for the new prime minister?
Putin facing ‘inevitable defeat’ in southern Ukraine – follow live war updates
“Britain has been helping us since the first days of the war,” says Mr Danilov, intensely. “When Boris Johnson was the prime minister, he communicated a lot with our president. On the first day and in the most difficult days, he communicated constantly with him.
“I am more than sure that the next prime minister will do the same for our country, as Johnson and Truss did, and it will be a continuation of the great help that the people of Great Britain are doing.
“We have a great common cause, and we are aware that we are on the side of the light of the whole of Europe and the whole civilised world. In adding to military aid, training our soldiers and accepting our refugees, Britain has offered us the help of a joint family. And this moral help is very important. It is unsurpassed.”
His cheer fades, though. We talk about a succession of grim challenges. The missiles and drones, for instance, that have rained down on some cities and towns, destroying critical infrastructure and imperilling the nation’s power supply.
“These are the things on which people’s lives depend – the work of hospitals, schools, and the lives of the elderly. This is humanitarian terrorism,” he says.
Then there is the Kakhovka dam, which he says has been mined by the Russian army “with a huge amount of explosives”.
Oleksiy Danilov is President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s most trusted security adviser
Read more: What is a ‘dirty bomb’ and is Russia planning to blow up the Nova Kakhovka dam?
There are claims Russia could blow it up in order to stop Ukrainian troops advancing towards Kherson.
“We will have to wait and see but if they do blow it up then the idea of water supply in Crimea will be gone for 10 or 15 years, or maybe forever.
“Then the question arises as to why they want Crimea if they are going to leave it without water.”
As for Kherson itself, he says the situation is “not easy” but that he does not expect Russian troops “to retreat on their own… they have their own plan, which I think we understand”.
He is, I think, laying the ground for a potentially brutal battle.
He fears, too, that a new front could open in the north.
Russian troops are reportedly massing in Belarus (a country for whose leaders Mr Danilov reserves a particular disdain), raising the spectre of them crossing the border and heading south towards Kyiv. It is, he tells me, a subject he had discussed with Mr Zelenskyy just before we met.
“Belarus has been occupied by the Russian Federation for a long time,” he says, gaze still full-on. “Russia does everything it deems necessary there, especially when that concerns the military sphere and the work of the Russian special services. In fact, they are under occupation.”
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So could Belarus be the base for an attack?
“Yes, indeed, from that side, after a certain period of time, certain unpleasant events may occur for our country. They have worked out this question. And they can in a short period of time transfer a large number of their troops precisely by air and rail to Belarus.”
He tells me that Ukraine does not have a “dirty bomb”, despite the claims of the Kremlin, and doesn’t have the necessary material (“since 1994 when we gave everything [Soviet-era nuclear weapons previously stationed in Ukraine] to Russia free of charge”) and “we would not deal with this issue anyway – we are not North Korea, or Iran or Russia”.
And then we get to the awkward bit of the interview.
Before meeting Mr Danilov, I had canvassed the view of a few senior European diplomats. One topic kept cropping up – what could end the war? Would Ukraine accept a deal where, for instance, it gave up the land occupied by Russia since 2014 in exchange for, say, NATO membership?
Mr Danilov’s gaze turns to a glare.
“I don’t know who you talk to in Europe and what these people have to do with our independence,” he says, frowning.
“Let me remind you. At one time, a French figure [he refers to former President Nicolas Sarkozy] tried to negotiate with Russia regarding Georgia, Georgia lost part of its territories. After figures from France and Germany forced us to sign the Minsk agreements [in 2014], we lost part of the Donetsk and Luhansk regions. But we didn’t stop fighting for them, and we didn’t stop defending it, because it’s ours.
“This is our constitution, this is our laws, this is our land. Let them [European leaders] give their land to Putin. I want to see how their community, their constituents, and their children will react.
“Look, you can’t incite terrorists. Because in the future, their desire to capture, capture and capture once more will only increase. This is a dangerous practice. They made an example of Fascist Germany. So we have a very good memory. Now Putin is not much different from Hitler – he is just a modern Hitler.
“From 1941 to 1945, Germany was at war with almost the whole world. In May 1945, it was left in ruins. The same will happen with Russia. They are doomed to it.”
So how, I wonder, can Ukraine and Russia ever be reconciled. After all, even when the war is over the geography won’t change – they will still share a long border.
“Firstly, I do not see that Putin will be in power for long,” Mr Danilov says. “He is doing everything in his power to make Russia fall apart. It is Putin who is destroying Russia with his actions.
“Secondly, other countries co-exist with their neighbours, and it is not necessary to fight. It is not necessary to clarify relations by military means. And where will the borders be? I have repeatedly said that Ichkeria [Chechnya] will be free, Tatarstan will be free, and many countries will be free. Whether it will happen this year, or next year, or in the near future – let’s see.”
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Lavrov: ‘Dirty bomb’ claims ‘not unfounded’
And this is the view that intoxicates and inspires so many people in Ukraine – a story of total victory: that Ukraine will prevail, Russia will be vanquished and Mr Putin will fall.
The truth is that there are many across Europe who do hope for a deal to end the war but I suspect they will have a hard time convincing Mr Danilov.
For the past eight months, Ukraine has been telling its people that they are fighting to save all of their country.
To move the goalposts now would be hard.
“Our society,” he says, “demands the liberation of all our lands from the Russian invaders.”
He neither looks nor sounds like a man ready to change his mind.
Just 36 aid trucks entered Gaza on Saturday – despite the humanitarian situation in the enclave worsening, Palestinian officials have warned.
According to the Gazan government’s media office, most of the humanitarian supplies were looted and stolen – “as a result of the state of security chaos that the Israeli occupation systematically and deliberately perpetuates”.
Officials say at least 600 truckloads of aid are required on a daily basis, adding: “The needs of the population are worsening.”
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Gaza nurse: ‘We’re rationing care’
A statement released late last night called for “the immediate opening of crossings, and the entry of aid and infant formula in sufficient quantities” – and “condemned in the strongest terms the continuation of the crime of starvation”.
Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, refuted this – and accused Hamas of “stirring up a slanderous propaganda campaign against Israel”.
He said: “The cruelty of Hamas has no boundaries. While the State of Israel is allowing the entry of humanitarian aid to the residents of Gaza, the terrorists of Hamas are deliberately starving our hostages and document them in a cynical and evil manner.
“The terrorists of Hamas are deliberately starving the residents of the Strip as well, preventing them from receiving the aid.”
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Aid drops continue over Gaza
It comes as the Palestinian Red Crescent in Gaza said its headquarters in Khan Younis were hit by an Israeli strike, killing one staff member and injuring three others.
Footage posted on social media shows a fire broke out in the building.
Indirect negotiations between Hamas and Israel for a 60-day ceasefire, and a deal for the release of half the hostages still held in Gaza, ended in deadlock last week.
US President Donald Trump’s Middle East envoy told the families of the hostages yesterday that he was working with the Israeli government on a plan that would end the war.
Steve Witkoff arrives to meet families of hostages in Tel Aviv. Pic: AP
Steve Witkoff claimed that Hamas was willing to disarm to stop the conflict, despite the group’s repeated statements that it would not do so.
In response, Hamas said it would not disarm unless an independent Palestinian state is established with Jerusalem as its capital.
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After Mr Witkoff’s meeting with the families of the hostages, Hamas released two videos of an emaciated Israeli hostage, Evyatar David, who was abducted from the Nova music festival on 7 October 2023 and has been held in captivity in Gaza since.
The 24-year-old looked skeletal, with his shoulder blades protruding from his back. He was heard saying that he had not eaten for three days. The distressing videos show him digging his own grave, he said in the footage.
Two videos of an emaciated Israeli hostage, Evyatar David, have been released by Hamas, after US special envoy Steve Witkoff this week met with the families of the hostages.
The now 24-year-old looks skeletal, with his shoulder blades protruding from his back, and says he has not eaten for three days.
The distressing videos show him apparently digging his own grave.
He worked in a restaurant, according to a video posted by Labour Friends of Israel, before he was abducted from the Nova music festival on 7 October 2023.
Since then, he has been held in captivity in Gaza, and the videos suggest he is being kept in dark tunnels and surviving on scarce portions of lentils and beans.
Gaza itself is suffering “man-made mass starvation” because of Israel’s blockade on aid to the enclave, the head of the World Health Organization (WHO) has previously said.
Evyatar David before he was captured by Hamas. Pic: Hostages and Missing Families Forum
In the video, Evyatar David writes on a hand-made calendar on the wall of a tunnel
In the second video, released on Saturday, Mr David – according to the English subtitles – says: “I haven’t eaten for three days.”
The captions continue as he speaks while in an underground tunnel: “There’s no [sic] enough food. I barely get drinking water.”
The video shows him talking through what he ate in July, which has been recorded on a handmade calendar hung up on the side of an underground Gaza tunnel.
Speaking while under captivity and under duress, he adds: “They give me what they can get.”
At the end of the video, he is digging a hole. The subtitle reads: “This is the grave where I think I’m going to be buried in. Time is running out.”
He then appears to break down, crouching on the floor and leaning his head on his arm while still clinging to the shovel.
A poster released by the Hostages and Missing Families Forum with photos of Evyatar David released in 2023, February this year and July
In a statement, his family said: “We are forced to witness our beloved son and brother, Evyatar David, deliberately and cynically starved in Hamas’s tunnels in Gaza – a living skeleton, buried alive.
“Our son has only a few days left to live in his current condition.”
They added: “Israel and the international community must oppose Hamas’s cruelty and ensure that our Evyatar immediately receives proper nutrition.
“The intentional starvation, torture, and abuse of Evyatar for propaganda purposes violate even the lowest standards of humanitarian law and basic human decency.”
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Gaza nurse: ‘We’re rationing care’
‘Famine’ looms in Gaza
On Friday, US special envoy Steve Witkoff visited a site where the US and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) has been distributing food in Gaza.
Read more: ‘Little confidence’ US Gaza delegation would see full picture
The controversial GHF scheme has been widely condemned, including by the UK government, after fatal shootings ever since it was set up earlier this year.
According to the United Nations’ human rights office, at least 859 people have been killed “in the vicinity” of GHF aid sites since late May.
The Israel Defence Forces has repeatedly said it “categorically rejects the claims of intentional harm to civilians” and has blamed Hamas militants for fomenting chaos and endangering civilians.
Meanwhile, the UN’s Integrated Food Security Phase Classification (IFSPC) this week said a “worst-case scenario of famine” was sinking in across the besieged enclave.
It has also said more than 20,000 children have been treated for acute malnutrition since April.
Families of the 50 hostages still in Gaza are concerned they are also starving, and blame Hamas.
On Saturday, Gaza’s health ministry said a further seven Palestinians had died of malnutrition-related causes in the past 24 hours, including a child.
Rescue crews searching for five trapped Chilean miners have discovered a body.
A section of the copper mine had collapsed on Thursday following a strong, 4.2-magnitude tremor.
The remaining four miners are still missing – and rescuers are vowing to continue their search with “strength and hope”.
A man reacts during a vigil at an entrance to El Teniente mine complex. Pic: Reuters/Pablo Sanhueza
Andres Music, general manager of El Teniente mine, said: “This discovery fills us with sadness, but it also tells us that we are in the right place, that the strategy we followed led us to them.”
Crews are trying to drill through 90m (295ft) of rock to reach the trapped miners, but Mr Music said they had not yet made contact with the workers.
Just over a fifth of the blocked underground tunnels have been cleared, with teams hoping to get through about 15m to 20m (49ft to 66ft) every 24 hours using heavy machinery.
He said rescue efforts would continue with increased caution, which could slow progress.
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Two people are now known to have died as a result of the collapse.
Another miner, Paulo Marin Tapia, was found dead on Thursday shortly after the incident.
Codelco, which owns the mine, said the identity of the second man is yet to be confirmed.
Nine other miners were injured.
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