Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in a speech Wednesday underlined that the "hype" around the danger of a Russian invasion has grown rather than the actual threat, as he urged the country to remain calm.
"The risks have not just existed for a day, and they have not become bigger. The only thing that has become bigger is the hype around them," he said.
Kyiv has been battling a pro-Moscow insurgency in two eastern regions bordering Russia since 2014, shortly after the Kremlin annexed Ukraine's Crimean Peninsula. The United States and its allies have for weeks warned that Russia may be planning an invasion of Ukraine. While Russia denies planning to invade the country, satellite pictures showing as many as 100,000 troops gathered on the border have set Western nations on edge.
U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Kyiv on Wednesday on a diplomatic push to ease tensions with Moscow over Ukraine, warning that Russia could launch a new attack at "very short notice."
Addressing his compatriots in the speech, Zelenskyy said: "Now it is not our country that is being actively attacked, but your nerves, so that you have a constant feeling of panic."
Ukrainians should refrain from hoarding and hastily withdrawing cash, the head of state advised.
The aim is rather to weaken Ukraine's economy so that the Ukrainian "no" vote on certain issues also becomes weaker, Zelensky claimed in the video message and appealed: "To the media: Be methods of mass information and not mass hysteria."
Russia has been seeking guarantees from NATO that the alliance will not accept Ukraine as a member. Ukraine was also hit by a massive cyberattack that knocked out key government websites, which the country's digital transformation ministry has said all signs point to Moscow being behind.
