Since the start of the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has become a widely discussed figure. His recent trip to Washington, D.C., which was dubbed a debacle by the media, placed him under the spotlight yet again. However, even though things have grown complicated of late for the Ukrainian leader, he has the support of his wife Olena Zelenska every step of the way.
Volodymyr and Olena have been together for many years, tying the knot on September 6, 2003. The couple have two children, Aleksandra and Kiril.
The two first met while at university, where she was studying law. They didn’t start dating immediately as she was involved with someone else at the time, but over time, they understood they shared many interests together.
Zelenskyy, who became a comedian and rose to fame with the TV show Servant of the People, in which he played a high school teacher who became the president of the country, had Olena as a writer of the series. At the time, neither of them ever thought the series would later become a reality.
In fact, the show, which ran from 2015 to 2019, ended because Zelenskyy became the actual president of the country.
When the military conflict started in 2022, Olena and her children stayed in Ukraine.
“I will not have panic and tears,” Olena Zelenska wrote on Instagram at the time. “I will be calm and confident. My children are looking at me. I will be next to them. And next to my husband. And with you.”
However, as expected, the war affected their relationship. Olena and her husband were forbidden from seeing each other due to safety issues.
“But at least I can physically feel him next to me,” Zelenska said. “This isn’t normal. It’s not a normal relationship when children cannot see their father and have to talk to him on the phone. So our relationship is on pause just as it is for all Ukrainians.”
“We need to accumulate our strength, we need to save our energy,” she added.
“We’re never tired of each other, we never bore each other. And it makes the family stronger, too. It’s not a normal life for any person to live in a country at war. It’s a constant psychological burden and pressure. I hope when this pressure is relieved, with our victory, we will be able to stay sane and we’ll be fine. However, now I think that we are as close as ever emotionally,” Olena said.
She added: “And we understand each other very well. In fact, it is very important that you can respect your nearest and dearest. I am sure love is not enough. And I am happy that I can respect my husband because it would have been very hard to stay with him, even given huge love, if I hadn’t believed in his honesty.”
“Instead of stopping the aggressor and ensuring that he can never harm anyone again, discussions begin about some so-called mutually beneficial dialogue with him. This is a distortion of reality, a blurring of morality. And it is an extremely dangerous situation for everyone,” she said on the Italian political and news talk show Quarta Repubblica.
“We are not fighting for kilometers. We are fighting for our people in the occupied territories. These kilometers are their homes, their jobs, their schools, their familiar streets. These people have the right to live in their country without fear. We cannot leave them in danger.”
The Ukrainian government claimed that Russia has abducted over 19,000, and according to Olena, only 1,227 children have been returned.
“Unfortunately, this is not a mechanism that works consistently. That is why the International Coalition for the Return of Ukrainian Children was created – to ensure that such a mechanism exists and operates. Today, 41 countries are already part of this coalition,” she concluded.