“I do what I can, I hope it works out and I’ll keep doing it.” These are the words of a First Lady determined despite months of conflict for her country and its people. Olena Zelenska, the wife of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, was the exceptional guest on BFMTV this Monday night.
Traveling to Paris to attend the conference on the reconstruction of Ukraine, the First Lady of Ukraine was also able to meet her French counterpart, Brigitte Macron. The two women must also go to a school on Tuesday that welcomes children from Ukrainian refugee families, one of Olena Zelenska’s struggles in this war.
• How her husband announced the start of the war
On February 24, the kyiv sirens did not sound. The security apparatus was not yet operational when the Russian armed forces began their invasion of Ukraine. The First Lady says, however, that she was suddenly awakened by loud noises.
“The first thing I heard was strange noises that sounded like explosions. The first thing I thought was that maybe it was fireworks, ”he says on our antenna.
It was only after the Russian attacks were confirmed and Olena Zelenska realized that her country was now at war with Russia: “You don’t want to believe that it started, but understanding comes very quickly.”
During these first turbulent hours of the conflict, Olena Zelenska said she stayed with her husband, Moscow’s number one target, who at the time was expecting a swift push towards Kiev. The First Lady then recalls an image that has since disappeared: that of her husband putting on a suit for the last time for a speech. Since then, the head of state has embraced the military and khaki style.
“He only told me one thing: ‘it started’. And everything became clear”, the First Lady testifies on BFMTV.
• “I never wanted to leave the country”
These first hours and days of conflict bring with them a torrent of instability. Will kyiv resist? Will Zelensky have to capitulate? What will be the fate of him and his family?
When asked whether or not to leave the country at the start of the war, Olena Zelenska tells BFMTV that “the question did not arise” for her.
“I didn’t feel like leaving or running away […] there was no such project, I tell you with all sincerity”, continues the First Lady on our antenna.
According to her, several First Ladies, including Brigitte Macron, would have offered her to join their country: “but I could not make this decision personally.” “I never wanted to leave the country, it could have been a very bad sign for our society,” she finally adds.
However, if she does not leave the country, she cannot stay with her husband. Almost ten months after the start of the conflict, Olena Zelenska says that she continues to “live apart with the children” and only has the opportunity to see her husband on certain occasions.
“Kids can do it less often, they miss their father,” he says on our set.
• See Brigitte Macron as a “friend”
She says she is “very grateful” for the bond she has with her French counterpart. Olena Zelenska spoke on BFMTV about her relationship with Brigitte Macron. The two First Ladies met on Monday at the Élysée. But this was not Olena Zelenska’s first visit to the Élysée Palace.
“She was the first First Lady I met as the wife of the Ukrainian president,” recalls Olena Zelenska on BFMTV. The meeting between the two women occurred in 2019, when her husband came to power.
“I was entering a new role back then and as a woman she was very supportive, gave me confidence and now in this stage of full-scale war I can say our friendship is only getting stronger,” she said.
The First Lady of Ukraine also thanked Brigitte Macron for her actions during the conflict. Many Ukrainian families have been welcomed in France and the children have been cared for there. “I hope that our cooperation will continue, I hope that this bond will be impossible to break”, Olena Zelenska continued, “we can talk to each other as friends”.
• Wants sanctions for “those who give criminal orders”
The Ukrainian first lady explained on BFMTV that her country is fighting for its independence “but also for human rights”, with the aim of “removing” Russian soldiers from Ukraine but also to obtain “justice”.
Bombing of a maternity hospital in Mariupol, discovery of mass graves, rape and kidnapping of Ukrainian women, installation of torture rooms… The exactions of the Russian army are multiple and have outraged the international community.
“Let those who give criminal orders be punished,” says Olena Zelenska on BFMTV, taking aim not just at Russian President Vladimir Putin “as a person but as a collective Putin.”
Moscow is also suspected of having transferred to Russia tens of thousands of Ukrainian children from the territories occupied during the conflict. A situation that outrages the First Lady who speaks of “pure and hard kidnapping” on our antenna.
“We are losing these children and we don’t know what is happening to them,” he finally continues, even using the term “deportation.”
At the same time, the Russian armed forces have been shelling Ukrainian civilian infrastructure for several weeks, notably causing multiple power outages. “It’s terrorism, terrorist acts,” she said, praising the resistance of the Ukrainians. The First Lady finally said that she was “convinced that all the children in Ukraine will want peace” during this Christmas season.
“We want peace and we only want peace,” Olena Zelenska concluded after the show.
Source: BFM TV
