"It was clear that my husband would stay in Kyiv," says Olena Selenska

For the Ukrainian presidential wife Olena Zelenska it was always clear that her husband Volodymyr would remain at his post in the Russian war of aggression. "I knew from the start that he would not leave Kyiv," Selenska told Bild on Monday in Kyiv. "If a country is left without a leader in a war, it will be shaken."

Despite well-intentioned advice, Zelensky did not leave his capital after February 24; this is considered an important step in the resistance against the Russian invasion. Then as now, Russian special forces tried to kill him, said Selenska. "I try not to think about it."

Family life has changed a lot since the outbreak of war. You can't plan life for more than a few minutes, Selenska said about her everyday life. She herself sees her husband “sometimes at work in the office”. But the family is “separated in everyday life”.

Daughter Oleksandra (18) and son Kyrylo (9) rarely see their father. "The children miss him," said Selenska. They try to protect them from the brutality of war. Above all, humor helps to endure the situation. "It may be dark humor, but it helps us persevere. There's always a way to laugh. Even about being scared.”

Selenska also defended the controversial photos taken by photographer Annie Leibovitz for the fashion magazine “Vogue”. Some found the images aesthetic, others rather inappropriate because Selenska was seen in front of war scenes such as sandbags or next to armed soldiers.

In Ukraine itself, the pictures were sometimes criticized as not being sufficiently glamorous for a president's wife, because Selenska wore only black trousers, a white blouse and practically no make-up. The wide-legged posture and the serious facial expression were also not considered ladylike.

In response, a wave of solidarity formed under the hashtag

"I have the right to stand there and express my feelings," Selenska said in an interview about the performance. This gave "my voice more power at a time when it was necessary". She heard back then that people were getting tired of war. Therefore, one had to "find other ways" to convey the suffering of the Ukrainians to the world population. "I have the feeling that we succeeded."

Oleana Selenska, who studied civil engineering, used to work in her own TV production company, with which she implemented her husband's comedy formats. In 2019, a few months after her husband was elected President, she was ranked 30th among the 100 most influential people in Ukraine. Since the beginning of the war, she has been training as a first aider and primarily ensures that the people in Ukraine receive psychological help quickly.