UZHHOROD, Ukraine — Ukraine’s first lady wants her country’s children to view themselves not as a generation enduring a grinding war, but rather as “a generation of winners.”
On the sidelines of a day spent at a rehabilitation camp for Ukrainian children in the relatively safe western city of Uzhhorod, Olena Zelenska said Tuesday that working with the next generation was both a moral obligation and a “strategic priority” for Ukraine’s future.
Many of the children will return to front-line cities after spending a few weeks at the camp, barely enough time to overcome the trauma they face over and over.
“This issue needs to be addressed immediately, as soon as it arises, before it grows into something more,” Zelenska told The Associated Press in a brief interview at the camp.
The foundation that bears her name, which is funded entirely by foreign donations, created the camp along with the Voices of the Children charity. A study by the Olena Zelenska Foundation and the Kyiv School of Economics this year found that 44% of Ukrainian children show signs of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Dressed casually with white sneakers, black pants, a white T-shirt and pearls around her neck, Zelenska blended into the camp’s activities with the children.
Since the start of the war, she has emerged as an unofficial ambassador for Ukraine globally. She was the first from President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s family to leave the country after Russia invaded in February 2022 to promote Ukraine’s cause. But she is equally active within Ukraine, and easily recognizable to the displaced families and wounded soldiers she visits.
At the camp, she joined an art therapy session midway, sitting beside a boy whose home was struck by an aerial bomb and who was later forced to evacuate from his hometown ahead of the Russian advance this summer.
Zelenska smiled and engaged with the children, examining each watercolor they presented. She even joined in, drawing a pink flower, a star and a heart. The conversation stayed away from the war.
“To ensure our children do not become a lost generation, we as adults must be not just active but also swift,” Zelenska said. “It’s difficult, but there is still the ongoing defense of the country. However, I am confident that political will combined with international cooperation can work wonders.”
The first lady said she first heard about “war fatigue” in the summer 2022 but she refuses to believe in it.
“When your neighbor has a fire, it seems pointless to say: ‘I’m tired of your fire. Stop it. Let’s forget about it,’” she said. “We still need help, and we will continue to ask for it. Not because we are bold, but because it is vital for our survival.”
During one of the activities, in which a mystery guest connected via an online call, eventually revealed to be Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk, one child in the crowd shouted, suggesting it might be the president.
The first lady quickly responded, “No, Zelenskyy is currently busy,” prompting an eruption of laughter from dozens of children.
Zelenska studied architecture but wound up working as a comedy scriptwriter, including for Zelenskyy, who was a comedian with a popular television show before winning the presidency in 2019.
The couple periodically appears in public together, visiting schools or rehabilitation centers and making formal visits abroad. The scrutiny has taken something of a toll on Zelenska, who was not a public figure before her husband became president.
“I feel a responsibility because I understand that all eyes are on us,” she said. “Even when you’re not doing anything particularly special, people still assess how the president’s family is functioning during the war — what they’re doing, where they are, how they are behaving.”
Zelenska noted that since the start of the invasion, Ukraine has been in a constant humanitarian crisis, with one of the biggest issues being internally displaced people and several million refugees abroad. Fighting prevents many children from attending school in person, while blackouts across the country force many schools in relatively safe regions to switch to online learning.
“We need the war to end, infrastructure for education to be in place, and for parents to feel secure,” she said. “We would very much like these children to be able to physically go to school, see their teachers and peers, and interact. But for now, it’s impossible.”
Zelenska said that one of the topics she regularly draws attention to during her foreign visits is the forcible deportation of more than 19,500 Ukrainian children by Russia from the occupied territories. In March 2023, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Russian President Vladimir Putin and Maria Lvova-Belova, Russia’s children’s rights commissioner, accusing them of abducting children from Ukraine.
Zelenska said holding Russia accountable must remain a key part of any end to the war.
“Only then will it be a victory,” she said. “It may not be quick, but we need to constantly keep in mind this vision of how it should be, so that nothing is forgotten and no one is left out.”