Ukraine’s First Lady, Olena Zelenska, was seen during a wreath-laying ceremony at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery in Arlington, Virginia, on September 1, 2021 (Anna Moneymaker / Getty Images)
Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska has said she believes Russia intends to destroy her country.
Speaking in an interview in which she revealed the deep turmoil caused by the conflict over her family and fellow citizens, Zelenska told the Polish newspaper Rzeczpospolita that the invasion of Ukraine “completely changed everything, including our lives.”
In a remote interview published on April 28, Zelenska said that since the invasion began on February 24, President Vladimir Zelensky “moved to Bankova Street (the president’s office in Kyiv) to his place of work” while she stayed with their children. . .
“There are no weekends from work and weekends in the war. Often you don’t even know the day of the week. There is only what is today, what needs to be done,” she added.
Zelenksa said her children are learning remotely while she works through her initiative with other first ladies, national governments, activists and volunteers to organize evacuations of sick and orphaned children to safety.
Asked if the war had changed her husband, she said: “For some reason I hear this question a lot. But the war did not change it.”
You have to understand that he has always been like that. He was a man you could count on. A man who will never fail. Now the whole world has seen what may not have been clear to everyone before. “
Asked what she thinks Vladimir Putin wants to achieve in Ukraine, Zelenska said Russia’s message continues to evolve and “this leads to the conclusion that their plans are constantly changing or not working logically.” But I do not judge them by declarations but by cases.
“What the Russian troops are doing in Ukraine leads directly to the conclusion that the Russians are trying to destroy the Ukrainians, which is their real goal.
“This conclusion comes to my mind when I saw the destruction of Mariupol, from which not even a safe evacuation was allowed on humanitarian corridors, when I saw the bombing of residential buildings in Kharkov, Chernigov, Odessa, the Kramatorsk railway station destroyed by a Russian missile. , which killed more than 50 people trying to leave, “she said.
“And, of course, I came to this conclusion after the war crimes committed by the Russians in the Kyiv region, where we continue to find the mass graves of killed, executed civilians, women and children,” she said.
“Yes, I am convinced that the Russians want to destroy us and commit genocide. And it doesn’t matter what they say, because their words do not coincide with their actions.”
Zelenska added that she was grateful to Poland for helping Ukrainian refugees, as they “look forward to the most important news – that we have won and that they can return home.”
She added: “I will be happy when I manage to give it to them one day, I hope as soon as possible.”
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