In an interview with Vogue, Olena Zelenska, wife of President Volodymyr Zelensky, spoke with sadness about the fate of Ukrainian women since the start of the war.
The nightmare has been going on for 47 days. On February 24, 2022, 44 million Ukrainians saw their lives changed when they heard Vladimir Putin’s first bombs falling on their cities. Determined to defend their country, tens of thousands of men joined the armed forces, leaving behind women, children and the elderly. In an interview with voguethe First Lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, told the story of what those left behind are going through. In particular, she highlighted the deplorable living conditions of women entrenched in bomb shelters, and praised the courage of those who, at the risk of their lives, chose to take their children out of the country.
“On the third day of the war, a Ukrainian child was born in a bomb shelter. And after that, thousands of women had to give birth in shelters, because we have seen what can happen to maternities like the one in Mariupol, which the Russians bombed, confides the wife of Volodymyr Zelensky. Ukrainian women have to leave occupied towns – like Boutcha and Hostomel, risking their lives under the bombs – with the children and the elderly, often on foot, often without men, because the men are not released by the occupiers. And now that these cities are no longer occupied, we know more about what they endured: total insecurity, the threat of violence…”
“They can’t even tell their loved ones what is happening to them”
Now outside the country, hundreds of thousands of women now have to contend with migrant status: “Being a migrant is tough, mentally and physically, underlines the Ukrainian First Lady. Because you have to start all over again. What is it like not being able to wear your own clothes? How to explain to a child why he does not sleep in his bed? You can’t wish that on anyone.”
In addition to those who have left, there are also those who remain. “How many women remain in the occupied cities of Kherson, Melitopol, Berdyansk? They cannot even tell their relatives what is happening to them, because there is no network, and all contact with the outside is stalked. There are tens of thousands of women and children in the ruins of Mariupol, and one can only imagine the nightmare they are going through, searching for food under the bombs, because humanitarian aid is not permitted.”
And this story is only the tip of the iceberg. Several NGOs, including Human Rights Watch, have recently denounced the increase in rape and violence committed by Russian soldiers against Ukrainian women.
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