Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, has recounted the initial days of Russia’s invasion almost four months ago and says her family still feels insecure.
“I had the feeling I was inside a parallel reality, that I was dreaming,” she told the Guardian in an interview published Saturday, recalling waking up to the sounds of war on Feb. 24.
“It was a surreal feeling … like I was playing a computer game,” Zelenska said.
She and her two children went into hiding, moving to various undisclosed locations in Ukraine. Glued to news broadcasts and separated from her husband, President Volodymyr Zelensky, Zelenska said she tried to hide her daily panic from their children, Oleksandra and Kyrylo. “We just followed the orders of security, went where we were told,” she said.
In the early days of the war, Zelensky said he was “target No. 1” for Russia and that his family was “target No. 2.” He pledged not to flee the country, despite offers from allies. “The less I say, the safer I am,” the first lady said of her movements in the first two months of the war, dismissing thoughts of threats, “otherwise I’ll get paranoid.”
Zelenska, who met her husband in school and later reunited with him at college, where they began dating, worked with him as a script writer when he was a comedian. Now, her role as first lady requires international networking, including with her American counterpart, Jill Biden.
“It was brave of her to come,” she said of Biden’s visit to Ukraine in May. “She was extremely empathic and very interested in the stories people had to tell.”
