'I need ammunition, not a ride': Ukraine president refuses evacuation offer, vows to continue fight

The president of Ukraine on Friday refused an offer of evacuation assistance from the United States, instead vowing to stay in his country's capital city and continue fighting against invading Russian forces.

"The fight is here; I need ammunition, not a ride," President Volodymyr Zelensky reportedly told U.S. officials, according to multiple media reports. 

Zelensky has remained in the country's capital of Kyiv as Russian military have moved to capture it as part of their invasion of the Eastern European nation. 

The embattled president and his countrymen are facing down what experts agree is the second-strongest military on the planet. Russian fighters have captured significant portions of Ukraine already, with analysts assuming that the capital city will fall to Russian President Vladimir Putin's army in a relatively short amount of time. 

Putin has for many years had has sights set on what he believes is Russia's justified reclamation of Ukraine. The Russian leader has nursed a long-held grudge over the country's departure from Russian control following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. 

Russia's invasion of Ukraine looks to be the culmination of that ambition, with the Russian military making aggressive moves to consolidate the Kremlin's hold on the country.

President Zelensky is among the high-profile Ukrainian officials who have picked up arms to join fighting at the frontlines of the pitched battle.

Former Kyiv Mayor Vitali Klitschko, a legendary professional boxer and a millionaire several times over, has also joined soldiers at the front, having been seen manning a machine gun in the capital streets. 

In a video address released on social media on Friday, Zelensky further indicated his intent to stay in the city along with multiple other high-ranking government officials. 

"We are all here protecting our independence," the president says in the video, "[protecting] our country, and we are going to continue to do so."

The president has even at times resorted to grim sarcasm amid the fighting and killing in his city, at one point remarking on a missed call with Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi.

"Today at 10:30 am at the entrances to Chernihiv, Hostomel and Melitopol there were heavy fighting. People died," he wrote on Twitter. "Next time I'll try to move the war schedule to talk to [Draghi]i at a specific time."

"Meanwhile, Ukraine continues to fight for its people," he added.