Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was thrust even further into the international
spotlight after the Russian invasion of his country.
Rather than evacuating, Zelensky remained in Ukraine, rallying his fellow citizens through
social media posts which proved he had not left them behind.
"We will fight as long as it takes to liberate the country."
President Zelensky, though, is not the only member of Ukraine's first family to stay behind
after Putin's forces crossed their border.
President Zelensky's wife, the first lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelensky, and their two
children, also refused to flee.
In an Instagram post, Olena delivered a message of solidarity with the Ukrainian people and
to the world, posting,
"My children are looking at me.
I will be next to them.
And next to my husband.
And with you."
For these reasons and more, Olena has become something like a folk hero, standing tall
against Russian aggression, just like her husband.
Here are a few things you might not know about a woman and political leader who has been
brave in the face of what might just be the start of the worst European land war in decades.
According to Hollywood Life, Olena met her future husband while studying architecture
in college.
Volodymyr was a law student, and had aspirations to work in the entertainment industry as a
comedian.
The couple would date for eight years before they got married in 2003.
Per Daily Mail, when Volodymr, working then as a comedian and actor, told his wife he
sought a different kind of spotlight — this time, in politics — she was at first "aggressively
opposed" to the career switch.
Soon, though, Olena supported her husband, and since then she's embraced her life as
Ukraine's first lady.
Once her husband won office in 2019, Olena described her new role to People magazine:
"I am a non-public person.
But the new realities require their own rules, and I'm trying to comply with them.
I can't say that publicity or communication with the press is stressful for me.
But I prefer staying backstage.
My husband is always on the forefront, while I feel more comfortable in the shade."
Prior to her life in politics, Olena also worked in the entertainment industry, as a
comedy writer on one of Ukraine's most popular TV shows at the time, "Servant of the People,"
starring none other than her very own husband.
To this day, Olena continues to write for a production company that Volodymyr founded.
Of her behind-the-scenes work, Olena told People,
"I am not the life of the party, I do not like to tell jokes.
It's not in my character."
Once emerging on the Ukrainian political scene, though, she told Vogue Ukraine,
"I found reasons for myself in favor of publicity.
One of them is the opportunity to attract people's attention to important social issues."
By 2004, Olena added a child to her busy work schedule.
First came a daughter they named Oleksandra, and then a son, Kyrylo, about nine years later.
With her husband in office, Olena wasted little time getting to work on an important issue:
women's rights advocacy, in Ukraine and elsewhere.
Thanks in part to Olena, Ukraine joined the G7 international initiative on gender equality.
She has also promoted the Ukrainian Women's Congress.
Other positive developments for Ukraine, thanks to Olena, include improved children's nutrition
standards in school, as well as the promotion of the Ukrainian language all over the world,
among other accomplishments.
In 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic struck close to home for the Zelensky family when Olena
was hospitalized with moderate symptoms.
She did not require extra oxygen, and Volodymyr, as well as Olena's two children both tested
negative.
At the time of the Russian invasion, Ukrainian COVID cases spiked higher than ever, with
about 40% of Ukrainians vaccinated, according to NBC News.
Ukraine is also in the midst of a polio outbreak, making matters just that much more urgent
for Olena and her family.
Nevertheless, Olena remained steady in the face of calamity.
Olena has not fled her country in the aftermath of the Russian invasion, choosing instead
to comfort her fellow Ukrainian citizens through social media.
She posted just hours after the invasion began,
"My dear people! Ukrainians!
I'm looking at you all today.
Everyone I see on TV, on the streets, on the Internet.
I see your posts and videos.
And you know what?
You are incredible!"
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