The car flies past roadblocks, sandbags and soldiers standing guard. We will stop at two checkpoints to show our ID and gear.
We finally get there, to the Ukrainian presidential office. In this heavily guarded building in the heart of Kyiv, we get a rare interview. First Lady of Ukraine, to Volodymyr Zelensky spouse, has agreed to be interviewed by .
– I’m fine, thanks for asking, Olena Zelenska says and smiles.
The question is important to Zelenska. Zelenska runs a mental health program called How You Can, and she poses a question to the Ukrainians she meets every day.
– I try to ask people how they are doing as often as I can, he says.
When Russia launched a major attack on Ukraine just over two years ago, Olena Zelenska found herself in a role she had not expected.
The famous screenwriter, who had written the role of her actor husband’s president in the popular Ukrainian TV series Servant of the People, had suddenly become the spouse of the president of a country at war.
So the Zelenskys were already a working couple in their previous life, then in the TV production industry.
– I remember when I woke up the morning after the attack. I thought it was all just a bad dream until I realized it was true, a horrible reality. It was a shock for all of us, Olena Zelenska, the wife of the President of Ukraine, now remembers the beginning of the war.
He says that there is not a day that war is not on his mind. At times, he says that he is still able to live almost normally.
– When I help my son with his homework or when we take care of our pets. But when the air alert comes, we return to reality, Zelenska describes.
Zelenska wakes up with her children for nighttime walks in the same way as thousands of other Ukrainians. Zelenska describes the bomb shelter used by the family as “an ordinary basement”.
When the alarm is over, Zelenska returns to her children, Oleksandran19, and Cyril11, with in their beds to sleep.
– In the morning I wake the children up for school and we continue life, but the pressure of the war is always present. Life is not normal.
This Instram post shows how the family’s life was still normal before the war:
The war has broken up thousands of families. Zelenskyi’s family has also been forced to live apart because of the war. During the first two months, President Zelenskyi could not see his family at all.
The family still lives separately: mother and children together and father somewhere else.
The communication between the couple, who have been married for more than 20 years, is mainly limited to phone calls, sometimes to video chats. Nowadays, however, they can at least occasionally visit each other. Even today, right before the interview.
– My husband unexpectedly came to greet me at my office. We managed to see each other for ten minutes, Olena Zelenska says with a smile.
Shared work trips offer momentary relief.
– Even though the trips are busy and short, it feels like we are traveling together, says Zelenska.
My son, 11, is a military specialist
The children of the Zelenskys live their childhood and youth in the midst of war. Oleksandra, the first child of multi-disciplinary parents, has followed in her father’s footsteps and is studying law. The former TV star and current president also studied law. Olena Zelenska, on the other hand, is an architect by training.
According to Zelenska, Oleksandra’s daughter is now able to meet her friends.
And how often do the children see their father? Very rarely, says Zelenska.
– Then the children take advantage of every minute of his attention. The daughter talks about her studies, asks for advice, and the boy clings to her, says Zelenska.
Zelenska mourns the fact that her children and those of all other Ukrainians are losing their important youth and childhood years.
– My daughter’s daily routines are related to studying, but she has no plans for the future. It’s sad for me as a mother, says Zelenska.
According to the mother, the boy Kyrylo has become almost a military expert.
– He knows all types of missiles that Russia launches at us. He can also calculate their speed, Zelenska says.
As a mother, she would like to be proud of one of her child’s completely different skills, she states.
– I would hope that my son could be interested in music, art, sports, and would not dream of military assistance or anti-aircraft defense.
Aid has also filled Olena Zelenska’s thoughts recently. Russia has gotten into the war, and the anti-aircraft missiles are dwindling every day.
The relief can be seen on the face of the first lady of Ukraine when the talk turns to the arms aid package finally approved by the United States.
– It is a huge achievement. It really gives strength and hope. I thank everyone who worked to make it happen, says Zelenska.
Although the US arms aid package does not solve the war, it brings hope and a message that Ukraine has not been abandoned.
– It means that it is easier for us to withstand bombings and protect people.
The task of the spouse of the president of a country at war is not easy. The spouse must stand in support of the nation, create hope, represent and humbly ask for help from other countries.
Zelenska says she has heard countless survival stories and countless sad stories as well. He devotes almost all of his time to the survival of his country at the same time as global war fatigue begins to show. Where does he get his strength from?
– When I manage to repair what the war has mutilated and ruined. When I meet people, he responds.
Children kidnapped by Russia
Zelenska considers the children stolen by Russia to be the most horrific phenomenon of the war.
Ukrainian authorities estimate that the Russians have abducted more than 19,500 Ukrainian children to Russia since the start of the war. According to Ukraine, entire orphanages have been emptied.
According to the UN, it is a war crime. Ukraine has so far managed to return only 380 missing children.
– Some of the children have managed to report themselves, use the phone or the Internet and get in touch with non-governmental organizations that have helped them, says Zelenska.
Zelenska has met children who escaped from Russia. They have told how the teaching in schools in Russia is propaganda. Children are trained to be Russian.
– They have been taught that Ukraine does not exist. That no one is looking for them. It’s psychological brainwashing. These children’s lives are being destroyed.
According to Zelenska, orphaned children may disappear completely because Russia changes the spelling of their names. Names that look similar in Ukrainian and Russian are pronounced differently.
– When the name is entered in the Russian registry according to the Russian pronunciation, the child can no longer be found based on the name, Zelenska explains.
– We also have information that 18-year-old Ukrainian boys have been required to join the ranks of the Russian army. It’s horrible.
Ukraine has formed an international alliance with Canada to return Ukrainian children.
– We are trying to create mechanisms by which we can put pressure on Russia, so that Russia would provide information about the children and how we can get them home, says Zelenska.
We don’t want to go back to the Soviet Union
Zelenska remembers when Ukraine became independent from the Soviet Union in December 1991. She was 13 years old then.
– I remember the referendum on independence. Almost everyone wanted it. We gained freedom and looked to the future with optimism.
And now, more than 30 years later, Ukraine has to fight for that freedom. Zelenska sighs.
– We do not want to return to the Soviet reality, where there were no rights or freedoms.
How does Olena Zelenska think everything will end, and where does she see herself in five years?
– We don’t know when the suffering will end. But I believe in the victory of Ukraine because it is right. Because that’s how things should be in a just world.
Only then, according to him, is the time for another question.
– Then I start dreaming about what will happen in five years.