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Ukraine: Olena Zelenska, a first lady from the shadows in the light of humanitarian diplomacy

2022-12-15T10:05:53.827Z


PORTRAIT – The Russian invasion has brought the former screenwriter and discreet first lady of Ukraine from shadow to light.


The enemy has designated me as target number one, my family as target number two

”.

We are on February 24, the Russian army enters Ukraine.

In his filmed speech, President Zelensky left his suit to put on the khaki military uniform that he will never take off.

He will remain in kyiv where the army will eventually push back the columns of Russian tanks.

She will leave the capital with their two children, Aleksandra and Kyrylo, then aged 17 and 8.

Almost nothing is known about her forced retirement, except that Olena Zelenska is in the west of the country, out of reach of Russian strikes.

But far from dismissing the president's wife, the war will rather project her to the front of the stage, where she now plays an undeniable diplomatic role.

To discover

  • Follow information on the war in Ukraine with the Figaro application

Olena Zelenska reappears on May 8 in Ouzhhorod, near the Slovak border, where she welcomes her American counterpart Jill Biden.

The two first ladies visit a public school where Ukrainian children, whose families have fled their cities, have been welcomed.

The sequence is revealing of the role that Olena Zelenska will play from now on: that of an attentive mother towards those whom the war has made vulnerable, in particular children.

Like her husband, she now multiplies the interventions by videoconference.

But to alert in priority on the humanitarian tragedies and the psychological distress caused by the conflict.

Acting for Ukrainian children who are victims of the war

On July 18, she went to Washington in particular where she spoke with Secretary of State Antony Blinken, with whom she discussed the "

humanitarian cost of Vladimir Putin's war

", before a new meeting with Joe Biden's wife. .

The next day, she speaks before the American Congress to ask for an increase in American military aid, on which Ukraine is dependent to fight Russia.

"

We are grateful for the presence of the United States on our side

", she declared then, "

but the war is not over

".

She talks about “

protecting everyone’s homes and the right to wake up alive in those homes.

".

In this martial tone, the first lady mixes the spring of the emotional: during her speech, a slide show projects photos of dead or injured children because of the war.

She talks about Liza Dmitrieva, a little girl killed in a Russian strike.

The American parliamentarians standing up to applaud his speech.

Read alsoBrigitte Macron receives Olena Zelenska at the Élysée to discuss aid to Ukraine

New highlight of Ukrainian children this Tuesday in Paris, where she meets Brigitte Macron, on the sidelines of the double conference on emergency aid to be provided to Ukraine and on the commitment of French companies.

The two women evoke the 20,000 students from Ukraine educated in France as well as Operation Cigogne, which has allowed the reception of Ukrainian children suffering from cancer.

They also discussed the foundation that Ms. Zelenska launched

” to collect humanitarian aid and allow the reconstruction of hospitals in eastern Ukraine, specifies the entourage of Brigitte Macron.

The first lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska visits a primary school for students hosted in France, December 13, 2022. POOL / REUTERS

From the shadow to the light

Of a more discreet nature than her spirited husband, Olena Zelenska has long preferred to stay more in the background.

The two spouses were born the same year and grew up in Kryvyi Rih, an industrial city in western Ukraine, where their families lived together in the same residence.

Their story began on the benches of the university.

He is in law, she in architecture.

They will never become either a lawyer or an architect.

But Olena begins to write sketches with "Kvartal 95", a group of merry men led by Zelensky, who participates in "KVN", a very popular game show which sees groups from different universities compete against each other.

Read alsoFor the First Lady of Ukraine, sexual violence is part of the Russian “arsenal”

They married in 2003, the year in which Volodymyr Zelensky founded the company “Studio 95”, which became one of the most important production houses in the country.

Olena works there as a screenwriter.

With the series "Servant of the people", produced by Studio 95, begins, perhaps unbeknownst to Olena, the political adventure of the couple.

Volodymyr Zelensky plays the main role, that of a naïve history teacher… who ends up becoming president of Ukraine!

On December 31, 2018, in the middle of a sketch, Volodymyr Zelensky finally announced his candidacy for the presidential election.

His political party bears the name of “Servant of the people”!

In April 2019, her husband was elected President of Ukraine.

Olena Zelenska is then forced to come out of the shadows, which she nevertheless loved.

The Russian invasion will be the last stage of this promotion.

To the point that the first lady of Ukraine is now an essential cog in the media and diplomatic system set up by her husband.

Like in a movie come true.

Source: lefigaro

All news articles on 2022-12-15

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