Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska has spoken up once again about the impact of the Russian invasion on her nation, declaring it’s women who have taken the brunt of the war.
In the interview that aired Sunday, Zelenska spoke through a translator on CNN’s “Fareed Zakaria GPS”.
The war between Russia and Ukraine began almost a year ago and Zelenska said that “women have taken the brunt of this war in terms of ensuring that their families are OK, that their children are OK, that their children are safe. Mothers and grandmothers have stepped in to protect them.”
Zelenska said the war has separated many families in Ukraine as people flee the fighting.
Ninety percent of those fleeing Ukraine since the war began have been women and children, according to CEO of Australia UNHCR, Trudi Mitchell.
“We hope most of the families will be able to reunite, ” said Zelenska, who is unable to see her own husband, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy every day because of the circumstances of the war.
“Sometimes you say it’s cool when your husband is a president,” she said. “You can see him on the TV screen, and you can make sure that everything is OK with him. But we do miss one another in the family, and I do miss my husband.”
In recent news, Russia has renewed strikes against Kyiv, Kharkiv and other areas of Ukraine, including the eastern city of Dnipro where at least 21 Ukrainians were killed and 73 injured (14 children) after a Moscow missile hit a nine-story residential building.
“Our (Ukrainian) lives cannot be considered as normal today,” Zelenska said. “Even if you compare what we had a year ago and what we have today in Ukraine.”
“In the first months, we were shocked. We could not believe that such an aggression is possible. It is absolutely illogical, and it was inconceivable that it can happen in the center of Europe.”
“Now people are trying to go on living, working, having their children go to school. Sometimes they even make jokes.”
“And not only are they trying to survive but [they are trying to] live a meaningful life.”