Olena Zelenska (44) wakes up Monday in Kiev as bombs rain down on the Ukrainian capital. It’s another day at war. With “Bild” she tells how the war days of the president’s wife are going. “My alarm was set at 6:30 am, I woke up at 6:00 am.” The reason: missile alarm. Follow explosions.
The wife of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky (44) brings their children Oleksandra (18) and son Kyrylo (9) to the basement. Russia has been attacking the capital of Ukraine again for about two weeks.
Selenskis “separated in everyday life”
For the first lady of the country it is now almost everyday. So common that Selenska adapts the family routine to reflect it. She leaves the bunker. Because, “Kids need to eat something, so I went upstairs and made breakfast.”
She says of the regular rocket attacks: “It sounds terrible, but the kids get used to it faster than the adults.”
Her husband is not with her. Daughter and son rarely see Volodymyr Zelensky, the First Lady explains. “The kids miss him,” she says. Selenska herself sees him “sometimes at work in the office”. But the family is “separated in everyday life”.
Family Retreats in Kiev
It was always clear to Olena Selenska that her husband would remain at his post in the Russian war of aggression. “I knew from the beginning that he would not leave Kiev,” Selenska says. “If a country is left without leadership in a war, it will be shaken up.”
Even after eight months of war, Russian special forces are still trying to kill him, Selenska says. But she makes it clear: “I try not to think about it.” (euc/SDA)