Ukraine President Zelenskyy Saw Wife and Kids Days Ago amid Russian Attacks but Is Focused on 'Work and Sleep'

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Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy became emotional when asked about seeing his family as he leads the country through a war with Russia that has killed scores of civilians and displaced more than a million since it began Feb. 24.

"Work and sleep, that's it," Zelenskyy, 44, said Wednesday of his focus since Russia invaded.

At a press conference with reporters on Thursday, he said he's sleeping about three hours a night, according to a New York Times report.

The president, whose bravery has been lauded by fellow Ukrainians and people around the world, is considered a "prime target for Russian aggression," a U.S. State Department spokesperson has said.

"The enemy marked me as target No. 1, my family, as target No. 2," the president said at the start of the invasion, before reportedly turning down an opportunity from the U.S. to be evacuated from Kyiv, the Ukraine capital.

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"Can you see your family?" a reporter asked him in a video posted by the U.K.'s Channel 4 News.

"No, no I can't," Zelenskyy replied, appearing emotional.

His wife, Ukraine's first lady Olena Volodymyrivna Zelenska, is reportedly still in Ukraine, in an undisclosed location, along with their children, Oleksandra, 17, and 9-year-old Kyrylo.

"I will not have panic and tears. I will be calm and confident. My children are looking at me. I will be next to them. And next to my husband. And with you," she told followers on Instagram post last week.

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Asked when he saw them last, President Zelenskyy initially said "before this war," before correcting himself. "No, not before this war," he said. "Three days ago, in the middle of this war."

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Zelenskyy, who stood next to sandbags and wore a military-green shirt in the video, previously declined to say where his family is weathering the invasion, presumably for their safety.

At Thursday's press conference, he said none of his top aides have fled the country. "That is why I am so strong and so decisive," he said. "We have a special people, an extraordinary people."

His country's capital, Kyiv, has been bombarded by invaders, though it remains under Ukrainian control. A 40-mile-long convoy of Russian military vehicles is near the city's outskirts but it appears stalled and is getting hit by Ukrainians with shoulder-fired anti-tank weapons, The New York Times reports.

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He was asked by reporters if he is afraid of dying in the war. "I'm an alive person, like any human being," he said. "And if a person is not afraid of losing his life, or the lives of his children, there is something unwell about that person."

As president, he added, "I simply do not have the right" to be afraid.

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Russia's assault continues after their forces launched a large-scale invasion on Feb. 24 — the first major land conflict in Europe in decades.

Details of the fighting change by the day, but hundreds of civilians have already been reported dead or wounded, including children.

"You don't know where to go, where to run, who you have to call. This is just panic," Liliya Marynchak, a 45-year-old teacher in Ivano-Frankivsk, Ukraine, told PEOPLE of the moment her city was bombed — one of numerous accounts of bombardment by the Russians.

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The invasion, ordered by Russian President Vladimir Putin, has drawn condemnation around the world and increasingly severe economic sanctions against Russia.

DANIEL LEAL/AFP via Getty Russian invasion of Ukraine

With NATO forces massing in the region around Ukraine, various countries have also pledged aid or military support to the resistance. President Zelenskyy called for peace talks — so far unsuccessful — while urging his country to fight back.

Putin insists Ukraine has historic ties to Russia and he is acting in the best security interests of his country. Zelenskyy vowed not to bend.

"Nobody is going to break us, we're strong, we're Ukrainians," he told the European Union in a speech in the early days of the fighting, adding, "Life will win over death. And light will win over darkness."

The Russian attack on Ukraine is an evolving story, with information changing quickly. Follow PEOPLE's complete coverage of the war here, including stories from citizens on the ground and ways to help.