Ukraine is not Russia. That's Putin’s problem – refusing to recognize a separate nation, refusing to recognize a separate country – that's what did him in. He was shown a military operation that was supposed to take three days. We found parade uniforms in their various military vehicles. They were literally marching to a parade. He still doesn't understand and doesn't want to admit that this is a different nation, a different people. They were advancing on Kyiv from all directions. Their main goal was to seize the capital of Ukraine. They reached Kyiv. They trapped us, and then we started hammering them, and they didn't know what to do about it. They were especially shocked when they drove toward the capital and people were just throwing burning mixtures. People were setting their armor on fire. It wasn't a matter of some general being an idiot. I believe the one who gave the order just didn't fully realize what was happening. Because what does taking Kyiv mean? When you've taken those towns on the way to Kyiv, you have to leave troops behind to hold those towns. And that takes a huge number of people. It's a pretty large territory. If the people inside offer resistance, then you need an army to hold every town. That was their mistake. They didn't even realize there would be resistance. That was their main mistake. That's it. From The Diary of a CEO podcast with Steven Bartlett. (1/3)

Bucha. It was a genocide, recognized by everyone. They buried hundreds of people. They tortured people. We found the grave. There were, I believe, around 500 people. When we liberated those towns near Kyiv, there emerged this, you know, this kind of hatred for the Russians, right at that moment. Not even at the moment when they started the full-scale war. Back then nobody understood what it really was yet. People understood what this war was and what Putin did personally when we found those mass graves of tortured adults, children. I mean they didn't just kill them, they tortured and killed them. When we liberated Bucha, I said, bring every journalist here. Don't touch anything, just bring the journalists. The whole world simply has to see this. Imagine finding a mass grave in the U.S. or in Britain, God forbid, with 500 tortured people, adults, kids, dogs, animals shot dead. I mean, they held hunting sprees there from military vehicles. People were running, they were shooting, just hunting, playing games. They literally just played with people, like slavery. So how, after this, can you listen to Putin? And how, after this, can you forgive? From The Diary of a CEO podcast with Steven Bartlett. (2/3)

When President Trump says we need to find a compromise – we live with this. A ceasefire and sitting down at the negotiating table – it is a huge compromise. Nobody can step into the shoes of all these people whose children were tortured. And you can't force people to forgive. How can you force them when their child was tortured? How do you forgive? It's impossible. I desperately want justice. I just really want. I know so many people had their hearts ripped out, and there won't be a new heart. That's why we say a ceasefire is the only step, because people’s hatred isn't going anywhere. It takes time and justice. And that's why it's a huge compromise. I've tried many times to tell the President of the United States: understand us. This is a huge compromise just to hold the lines where we are. Trump can bring Putin to the negotiating table very easily. The way President Trump talks about me, he needs to adopt that kind of rhetoric about Putin. From The Diary of a CEO podcast with Steven Bartlett. (3/3)