Ukraine War Will End Once Putin Dies: Zelensky

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky believes the war in Ukraine will end once Russian President Vladimir Putin passes away.

In October, Zelensky sat down with television host David Letterman as part of a special episode of the Netflix series "My Next Guest," which was released Monday. During the interview, Letterman asked the Ukrainian leader whether he thinks the war will go on if Putin dies of a cold or "accidentally falls out of the window," to which Zelensky replied: "No. There will be no war."

"The authoritarian regime is dreadful. There is a high risk that everything can be decided by one person. So, when this one person leaves, all the institutions stop. Something similar took place in the Soviet Union. Everything stopped," Zelensky added.

"I believe that if he's not there, it will be hard for them. They will focus on domestic politics, not foreign policy."

The interview was filmed in an active subway platform 300 feet below ground in Ukraine, which was described as the "safest part of the city." At one point during the interview, a siren went off. Only Letterman looked alarmed, prompting him to ask what that indicated.

"Unfortunately, it means that war has become a habit. Many Ukrainians have gotten used to it," replied Zelensky.

In a separate interview with The Washington Post, Letterman said he was inspired to do the special when he saw Zelensky reject an offer from the United States to evacuate him from the capital city, asking instead for ammunition for his troops.

"Right away you're reminded of what you know about Winston Churchill fending off Hitler," Letterman said.

The Netflix special comes as the war between Russia and Ukraine extends into its tenth month. As of Sunday, a total of 6,755 Ukrainian civilians have died, including 6,331 adults and 424 children. Most of the deaths were caused by explosive weapons and Russian shelling. The actual figures could be much higher as some places facing hostilities have delayed their reporting, the Office of UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) said.

In contrast, the Russian army has lost 94,760 military personnel since the start of the war, including 620 deaths over the past day, this is based on estimates published Monday by the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine.