Olena Selenska
She didn’t want to be “in the limelight”
Olena Selenska a few days ago in the USA.
© imago images/UPI Photo
Olena Zelenska, Ukraine’s First Lady, graces the cover of Vogue. But she never wanted to be “in the limelight”.
Olena Selenska (44) graces the digital cover of “Vogue”. The journalist Rachel Donadio met the First Lady of Ukraine for the international fashion magazine for two talks in the country, which was scarred by the Russian war of aggression. Star photographer Annie Leibovitz (72) portrayed Selenska for the cover.
Another picture shows the first lady holding hands with her husband, the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy (44). “Being on the cover of ‘Vogue’ magazine is a great honor and a dream for many successful and prominent people around the world,” writes Selenska to that photo on Instagram. She wished them all not to end up in a war in their countries. The First Lady wished that every Ukrainian woman would now be seen there in her place, saying that they were “the face and the cover of our country”.
“We’re looking forward to the win”
In a related article entitled “A Portrait of Courage” Selenska talks about this, among other thingsthat the past few months “the most terrible […] of my life” as well as the life of all Ukrainians. “Honestly, I don’t think anyone realizes how we managed to handle it emotionally.” Her compatriots inspired the First Lady: “We look forward to the win. We have no doubt that we will win. And that’s what drives us.”
In conversation with President Selenskyj, he emphasized that he could be a role model “for a part of our people”. “But my wife, who stayed here, is a role model for women and children. I believe that she plays a very important role for Ukraine, for our families and for our women.”
“Of course she is my great love,” said Selenskyj about his wife, with whom he has two children. She is also “really my best friend. She’s also a patriot and she loves Ukraine deeply. That’s true. And she’s an amazing mother.”
“Stepping into the limelight was quite difficult for me”
Selenska never wanted to be in the foreground. “I like to stay in the background – that suited me,” she explains to “Vogue”. “Stepping into the limelight was quite difficult for me.” But she tries to do her best. “We lived a happy life and never thought that something like this would happen. But we have hope,” explains Selenska. She still feels isolated. “I can’t go where I want in freedom” and even a simple purchase is “a dream that cannot be realized”.