Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska listed in Time's 100 Most Influential People

Amid the raging Russia-Ukraine war, Ukrainian first Lady Olena Zelenska made it to the Time’s 100 Most Influential People list of the year 2023. The highly decorated list included human rights lawyer and Nobel Peace Prize laureate, Oleksandra Matviichuk. The magazine which has been publishing the list since 2004, shared the list of the 100 most influential people around the world on April 13. The wife of the Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has been quite active in providing humanitarian aid amid the Russia-Ukraine war. In the past, Zelenska has also addressed the United Nations and other international platforms and discussed the plight of the Ukrainian citizens in the conflict-stricken country. 

“A writer who worked behind the scenes, she never asked for a spotlight. A mother of two, she never asked to become the heart of a nation at war,” the American magazine described the Ukrainian first lady. Her Time profile was written by US First Lady Dr Jill Biden. “Olena Zelenska didn’t expect to become a warrior for the people of Ukraine, but she has answered this call with selfless courage,” the American First Lady wrote for her Ukrainian counterpart. Dr Biden then went on to describe her first experience when she met Zelenska during a Mother’s Day celebration in a small Ukrainian town. “Instinctively, we embraced—two mothers, two nations, coming together for peace. In the strain of her smile, I could see the weight she carried: the sleep lost to the percussion of falling bombs, the tales of atrocities that she would never forget,” the US First Lady said in the piece. 

'She could have taken her family and left': Jill Biden on Zelenska

In her Time profile, the US first lady talked about how convenient it was for Zelenska to leave the country with her children after Russia started its invasion of Ukraine. Jill Biden asserted that despite all the luxuries and conveniences available to her she chose to stay in the war-ravaged country. “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,” the US First Lady wrote. “Olena Zelenska is a mother. Protector. The pride of her nation. A beacon of hope for the people she loves,” she concluded.

Meanwhile, human rights lawyer Matviichuk, who received the Nobel peace prize in 2022, was also featured list. She founded the human rights organisation called the Center for Civil Liberties in 2007. The group has been advocating for democratic reforms in Ukraine and has been active in collecting data on  Russian human rights violations in the eastern European country.