USHHOROD, Ukraine — Ukraine’s First Lady wants her country’s children to see themselves not as a generation enduring a grueling war, but rather as “a generation of winners.”
Speaking on the sidelines of a day at a rehabilitation camp for Ukrainian children in the relatively safe western city of Uzhhorod on Tuesday, Olena Zelenska said working with the next generation was a moral obligation and a “strategic priority” for Ukraine’s future.
Many of the children will return to the frontline cities after a few weeks in the camp run by the aid organisation “Voices of the Children”. There is hardly enough time to process the trauma they are repeatedly exposed to.
“This problem must be addressed immediately as it arises, before it develops into something bigger,” Zelenska told the Associated Press in a brief interview at the camp sponsored by the foundation that bears her name.
A study this year by the Olena Zelenska Foundation, funded entirely by foreign donations, and the Kyiv School of Economics found that 44 percent of Ukrainian children show signs of post-traumatic stress disorder.
Since the war began, she has become known as Ukraine’s unofficial ambassador around the world. She was the first member of President Volodymyr Zelensky’s family to leave the country to champion Ukraine’s cause after the Russian invasion in February 2022. But she is equally active inside Ukraine, frequently visiting displaced families and wounded soldiers.
Dressed casually in black pants, a white T-shirt and sneakers, and with beads around her neck, Zelenska took part in the camp’s activities with the children. At an art therapy session, she sat next to a boy whose house was hit by an aerial bomb and who later had to be evacuated from his hometown ahead of the Russian advance this summer.
Zelenska smiled and chatted with the children, looking at each watercolor they presented. She even joined in and painted a pink flower, a star and a heart. The conversation was not about the war.
“So that our children do not become a lost generation, we as adults must act quickly,” said Zelenskaya. “This is difficult because we must continue to defend the country. However, I am confident that political will combined with international cooperation can work wonders.”
The First Lady said she first heard of “war fatigue” in the summer of 2022, but refuses to believe it.
“When your neighbor’s house is burning, it seems pointless to say, ‘I’m sick of your fire. Stop it. Let’s forget it,'” she said. “We still need help and will continue to ask for it. Not because we are brave, but because it is essential to our survival.”
During one of the activities, a surprise guest joined in via an online call and the children had to guess who he was. One child shouted that it could be the Ukrainian president. The first lady quickly replied, “No, Zelensky is currently busy,” which drew laughter from dozens of children.
The guest was the Ukrainian boxer Oleksandr Usyk.
Zelenskaya studied architecture but eventually worked as a screenwriter for comedy plays, including for Zelensky, who worked as a comedian with a popular television show before his victory in the 2019 presidential election.
The couple regularly appear together in public, visit schools or rehabilitation centers and make official trips abroad. The attention has taken its toll on Zelenska, who was not a public figure before her husband’s presidency.
“I feel a responsibility because I know all eyes are on us,” she said. “Even if you’re not doing anything particularly special, people are still judging how the presidential family functions during war – what they do, where they are, how they behave.”
Zelenskaya pointed out that Ukraine has been in a prolonged humanitarian crisis since the invasion began. The biggest problems include internally displaced people and several million refugees abroad. Because of the fighting, many children are unable to attend school in person, while power outages across the country are forcing many educational institutions in relatively safe regions to switch to online classes.
“The war must stop, the infrastructure for education must be created and parents must feel safe,” she said. “We want these children to be able to go to school in person, see and interact with their teachers and classmates. But right now that is impossible.”
Zelenskaya said one of the issues she regularly draws attention to during her visits abroad is Russia’s forcible deportation of more than 19,500 Ukrainian children from 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.
The First Lady said holding Russia accountable remains central to ending the war.
“Only then will it be a victory,” she said. “It may not be quick, but we must constantly keep this vision of how it should be in mind so that nothing is forgotten and no one is left out.”
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Associated Press reporter Efrem Lukatsky contributed to this report
