‘True Answers’ on Olena Zielinski’s Vogue Photoshoot

As for conservatives asking why Olena and her husband have time to pose for glamorous photos for fashion magazines, let’s give them an honest answer.

It’s fair to say that Olena’s Vogue magazine cover has caused some controversy. A collection of digitally released photos titled ‘Photo of Courage: Ukraine’s First Lady’ has sparked mixed reactions online.

In one of the pictures, Olena is holding the collar of her navy blue trench coat with the colors of the Ukrainian flag against a background of war-torn machinery. The world’s largest cargo plane, pictured, was destroyed in its hangar during Russian shelling in February. Three Ukrainian soldiers are also imprisoned in the frame.

Another scene shows Olena Zelinsky sitting on the steps in the palace, with dozens of sandbags behind her. The combination of his mesmerizing style and war imagery is haunting.

Olena has been open about wanting to be a traditional ‘First Lady’. Like her former comedian husband, she pursued a career in the arts. She met now-President Volodymyr Zelensky in high school and became a screenwriter before her husband won the presidency in 2019.

Olena told Vogue: ‘I respected her choice and I understood that it was an important step for her. It was then that I realized that my life and the life of my family would change drastically. This change will be long-lasting and quite complex.’

Their children have not seen their father for months. His son, who was once interested in an entertainment career like his parents. He told NBC that now he wants to be a soldier and Olena’s every move is in the spotlight.

After the digital photo shoot was published by Vogue, Republican Congresswoman Lauren Bobert tweeted a photo of the Ukrainian presidential couple with a scathing message: ‘While we’re sending $60 billion in aid to Ukraine, Zelensky Vogue. Doing a photo shoot for a magazine. These people think we are nothing but a bunch of idiots.’

Those sentiments were echoed by conservative activist Scott Pressler, who questioned why Olena had time for a photo shoot when her country was still at war.

Since they asked, let’s be honest about the answer. When the war began, the West, and most rhetorically the United States, promised unwavering support for the Ukrainians, but in the past few weeks the country has fallen off the news and social media agenda.

Celebrities are speaking less. Powerful companies are no longer promising the money and support they used to.

After pleading with Joe Biden in March to do more for Ukraine, several US senators voted against a $40 billion humanitarian package for the besieged country. The bill was eventually passed, but the lack of a unanimous decision was seen as a sign of declining support.

Lawmakers who once hailed Ukraine’s leaders and citizens as heroes now decry Biden’s ‘excessive’ spending in the war-torn country, citing America’s own (relatively small) problems at the gas pump. giving Biden was recently forced to defend his support for Ukraine in an interview with The Associated Press.

Zielinski is a former TV star who used his fame to enter politics and successfully run for president. They know the power of going to the media at a good time. So does his wife. In fact, keeping their country interested in the international media is vital to their war effort. When Ukraine slips from our minds, only Russia benefits.

Reacting to Olena’s photos in Vogue, we should also consider why we expect people in war zones to look and behave a certain way.

Life on the ground in Ukraine is hard, no doubt, but suffering. People who live in conflict can still enjoy fashion, listen to jokes, take pictures and discuss superficial topics.

It’s possible to lead as a wartime president and first lady and spend too much time working on diplomacy and policy and worrying about your own personal safety.

A moment of glamor caught on camera does not invalidate months of war, and saying so only benefits Putin.