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In response to
"Ukraine’s forces are churning slowly forward after breaching Russia’s initial defensive lines."
by
crash davis 😺
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Ukraine’s first lady speaks of the strains of being married to a wartime president.
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Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, gave a highly personal interview to the BBC to discuss the toll the war has taken on her family that was published on Tuesday, after her husband returned from his latest trip to the front lines to shore up troop morale.
“This may be a bit selfish, but I need my husband, not a historical figure, by my side,” Ms. Zelenska told the British broadcaster.
President Volodymyr Zelensky has lived largely apart from the first lady and the rest of their family since Russia invaded in February 2022, she said.
For months after the war began, Ms. Zelenska stayed in hiding with her children. In the interview, she described her emotional state then as “a constant feeling of adrenaline.” But as time passed, she said, she found it necessary to calm herself and start living life in “the existing conditions.”
The first lady and Mr. Zelensky were high school sweethearts who went on to work together in a comedy troupe and television studio, he as a performer and she as a scriptwriter.
The war has thrust Mr. Zelensky into the most important role of his lifetime, and has done the same for his wife. After emerging from hiding last year, she began traveling the world to meet leaders and give speeches.
“We don’t live together with my husband, the family is separated,” she said. “We have the opportunity to see each other, but not as often as we would like. My son misses his father.”
The interview was broadcast on the eve of a conference Ms. Zelenska was scheduled to co-host in Kyiv on Wednesday that will focus on mental health and resilience. The other host is the British actor and writer Stephen Fry, a mental health activist.
“I really hope that I can inspire someone, can give someone hope or advice, or prove with my own example that we live, we work, we move forward,” Ms. Zelenska said.
— Eric Nagourney
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