While her husband Volodymyr Zelensky, the president of Ukraine, acts as a field commander against the Russians, his wife Olena Zelenskaya supports the image war on social media.
Engaged as the head of his country’s armies in the fight against the Russian aggressor, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky can count on a powerful ally on a completely different basis. His wife Elena Zelenskaya has indeed found her role in the war against the Kremlin: on social media, she has established herself as a figure of power in Kyiv and a figure of fierce resistance from her people.
We put faces on the names of the victims
Since the beginning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine on February 24, international public opinion has revealed the personality and face of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky from all sides. On the other hand, it was in the letter that she met his wife, Elena Zelenskaya, 44, and the mother of their two children, last week.
The latter indeed published an open letter to the foreign press to draw attention to the plight of his fellow citizens.
“Despite the assurances of Kremlin-backed propaganda groups that this is a special operation, in reality it is a massacre of the civilian population of Ukraine. (…) When Russia says that it is not at war with the civilian population, I first of all want to name these killed children, ”she wrote there, in particular.
However, these names are primarily in the social networks that she provides. Because this trained architect, who became an employee of his husband’s production company and then a communications advisor when he entered politics, is leading the digital fight against the invaders.
So Elena Zelenskaya on Instagram on Monday recalled the chaotic fate of little Sasha, who was captured in the battle near Gostomel near Kiev and wounded in the arm: “Thanks to the incredible efforts of volunteers, Sasha was evacuated along with her family. be treated abroad. But it will be much more difficult to heal the wounds in the heart.”
Individual dramas, collective tragedy
In this March 6 Instagram post, she presents one of those individual dramas that make up the collective tragedy of war.
“This is Polina from Kyiv, who died during the bombing of the capital along with her parents and brother. Her sister is in critical condition,” she captioned the photo, which shows a smile of a teenage girl with arms outstretched.
Detailing his story, we also note the photo of two babies lying on sheets in a makeshift room. “It’s impossible to remain calm when we see these two young patients being treated in bomb shelters,” she enthuses.
“This is Anna, a 12-year-old dancer. She lost her golden hair while battling leukemia. The war has jeopardized the care of hundreds of young patients like her,” she wrote again.
Elena Zelenskaya is also keen to debunk the false information that Russia and her supporters will run around her husband or the government, as shown in this other post.
Audience 2.6 million subscribers
Finally, the wife of the head of state, whom she married in 2003, reveals the realities of the war in a very crude manner, as does this mass grave in Mariupol, which she unearthed on her page on Monday. “It’s scary to look at,” she admits in the preamble, continuing, “But we must look at these mass graves and never forget them.”
The flurry of fire that Elena Zelenskaya is kindling in her social networks is not anecdotal. She has 2.6 million followers on Instagram. So many relays were offered to his government’s cause in the international arena.
Robin Werner, BFMTV journalist