Ukraine president Volodymyr Zelensky in car crash in Kyiv

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has been taken to hospital after a motorist collided with his vehicle as he travelled through Kyiv.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has been involved in a car crash in Kyiv. Picture: Alexey Furman/Getty Images

Ukrainian leader Volodymyr Zelensky has escaped serious injury after he was involved in a car crash, his spokesman has confirmed.

A motorist collided with a vehicle carrying the president as his motorcade passed through Kyiv.

A spokesman for Mr Zelensky said the president was not seriously injured.

“In Kyiv, a passenger car collided with the car of the President of Ukraine and escort vehicles,” spokesman Sergiy Nikiforov said in a statement early on Thursday morning.

“Medics accompanying the President provided the driver of the passenger car with emergency aid and transferred him to an ambulance.

“The president was examined by a doctor, no serious injuries were detected. The law enforcement officers will investigate all the circumstances of the accident.”

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Volodymyr Zelensky posing for a photo with a servicewoman in the de-occupied city of Izyum, in the Kharkiv region, on Wednesday. Picture: Ukrainian Presidential Press Service / AFP

In his nightly televised address, video of which was posted shortly after the accident, Mr Zelensky said he had just returned from the area around Kharkiv, adding that “almost the entire region is de-occupied” after a lightning counteroffensive to dislodge Russian troops.

“It was an unprecedented movement of our soldiers — the Ukrainians once again managed to do what many thought was impossible,” Mr Zelensky said.

The war in Ukraine is entering a decisive phase, with Kyiv’s forces expelling Russian troops from swathes of the east, appearing to seriously challenge the Kremlin’s ambition to capture the entire Donbas region.

The Ukrainian president escaped serious injury in the crash, his spokesman said. Picture: Yalta European Strategy / AFP

Ukrainian solders have claimed to have recaptured territory previously occupied by Moscow-backed forces during the course of the war that began on February 24.

“Our blue-yellow flag is already flying in de-occupied Izyum. And it will be so in every Ukrainian city and village,” Mr Zelensky said on social media during the visit.

“We are moving in only one direction — forward and towards victory.”

On Monday, Russian armed forces were said to be “collapsing” in Kharkiv Oblast after a blistering counteroffensive by Ukraine.

Ukrainian soldiers in Izyum, in the Kharkiv region in eastern Ukraine, on September 14. Picture: Juan Barreto / AFP

Ukrainian armed forces said the three cities of Izium, Kupiansk and Balaklyia were recaptured, along with more than 20 settlements in the previous 24 hours.

“In the past 24 hours, Ukrainian armed forces drove the enemy away from more than 20 settlements” and are regaining “full control over them” the Ukrainian army said in its daily briefing on Monday.

Troops also liberated Vasylenkovo and Artemivka in the Kharkiv region, Mr Zelensky said in his evening address on Saturday.

“These last days, the Russian army has shown us its best [side] – its back,” he said. “There is no place in Ukraine for the occupiers. There never will be.”

– With AFP and New York Post