In the awake of the intensified Russian aggression on Ukraine, it is imperative that a rescue mission be put in place urgently to evacuate Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy out of the capital city Kyiv. The president's life is in danger.

It's a worrisome situation that he has allegedly survived assassination attempts. If these attempts on his life are anything to go by, then the world could be plunged into World War 3. The whole world needs to learn from the Sarajevo assassination that fuelled World War I into flames.

When the Archduke Franz Ferdinand of Austria was gruesomely assassinated, the whole universe was virtually electrified with World War I. World leaders need to recall and compare the results of the Sarajevo assassination with that of the ongoing Ukraine-Russian crisis.

Let us embrace history as our best teacher and reminder. A burnt child dreads the fire.

Batsirai Kativu, Johannesburg