Ukrainian first lady named among world’s most influential people by Time magazine
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Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska has been named among the world’s 100 most influential people this year by Time magazine.
Zelenska’s Time profile, written by US First Lady Jill Biden, says that the wife of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has “become the heart of a nation at war” and “a warrior for the people of Ukraine.”
Olena Zelenska is a mother. Protector. The pride of her nation. A beacon of hope for the people she loves.
“A writer who worked behind the scenes, she never asked for a spotlight,” Jill Biden wrote in her profile of Zelenska. “A mother of two, she never asked to become the heart of a nation at war.”
Jill Biden added: “Olena Zelenska didn’t expect to become a warrior for the people of Ukraine, but she has answered this call with selfless courage.”
The US first lady also said that Zelenska “could take her family and flee” when Russia invaded Ukraine in February last year.
“What mother would blame her? Yet, she stays,” Jill Biden wrote. “She stays because freedom and democracy deserve defenders. She stays to show the world that heart and hope can make even the largest tyrant seem small. She stays for her children—for their future, and the future of all Ukrainians.”
Photo: First Lady of Ukraine Olena Zelenska. EPA-EFE/JULIEN DE ROSA
