Zelenskyy says an EU politician told him to show proof that what's happened in Ukraine 'was not staged'

Zelenskyy said the worst conversation he's had since the war started was with an EU politician.

Zelenskyy told BILD the politician who he did not name asked him to prove the war was not staged.

"He basically said: Show us proof that all this was not staged. That your people really died."

Sign up for our weekday newsletter, packed with original analysis, news, and trends — delivered right to your inbox. Loading Something is loading. Email address By clicking ‘Sign up’, you agree to receive marketing emails from Insider as well as other partner offers and accept our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said the worst conversation he's had since the war in Ukraine started was with a European Union politician that asked him if the war was staged.

"There was a bad situation with a leading EU politician. I don't want to talk about it. He basically said: Show us proof that all this was not staged. That your people really died," Zelenskyy said in an interview with BILD reporter Paul Ronzheimer on Friday.

Zelenskyy refused to name the politician or when exactly this conversation happened, but his remarks come after a number of atrocities across Ukraine.

On Friday, two Russian rockets hit a train station in Kramatorsk, Donetsk, killing at least 50 people and injuring 100 others. Pavlo Kyrylenko, the governor of the Donetsk region, which is a part of the Donbas region, said five of those killed were children.

Zelenskyy told Ronzheimer that he doesn't think Russian President Vladimir Putin "understands at all what is happening."

"I'm sure he has no clue what is actually happening. He has given his order but does not know just how many people die every day and what is happening in reality. How many people, how many children die, how many buildings are destroyed, are burnt to the ground," Zelenskyy said. "He doesn't know about all this and he doesn't want to know. He just needs a result."

The attack in Kramatorsk followed news that the bodies of hundreds of civilians were found in the Ukrainian suburb of Bucha.

Zelenskyy told Ronzheimer that there's more destruction yet to be found.

"Some towns were destroyed completely. Some towns simply don't exist anymore – no more buildings, no more people. I do not know what we will find there," he said.

BILD is owned by Axel Springer, Insider's parent company.