The wife of the President of Ukraine Olena Zelenska gave an interview to one of the most influential media of the Spanish-speaking world – El Pais. The First Lady appeared on the covers of two versions of it at once: the daily newspaper and the Sunday weekly El Pais Semanal, where her extensive interview about the terror inflicted by Russia in Ukraine and the recovery after it was published.
"They just want to destroy us as a nation. Russians do not like the very fact of our existence, our love of freedom, our resistance. They would like us to be their vassals. We want to have a future in which we can exist as a nation and be free. This is an overt terror that they arrange so that no one feels safe anywhere. They sow fear so that we do not dare raise our heads. But the Russians get the opposite reaction: we unite and despite everything resist and fight for our lives,” she said.
The journalist noted that, while working in Ukraine, he actually hears stories about losses from every person and is shocked by the incredible suffering of Ukrainians. Answering a question about whether such psychological injuries can be cured, Olena Zelenska informed about the implementation of the National Program of Mental Health and Psychosocial Support, which she initiated.
"I am working with the First Ladies of the United States and Israel, whose countries have experience in post-traumatic treatment for families affected by war. With Israel, we have already conducted online training for a hundred psychologists, another 25 specialists are undergoing training directly in Israel to then return to Ukraine and spread their experience among colleagues. We are in the epicenter of the war, but we have to start fighting its consequences already now," the First Lady emphasized.
The President's wife thanked the international community for helping Ukraine and noted: "We want to know that the world sees: our struggle is fair. I want to thank everyone for their support during these terrible months. There is no war that doesn’t affect others - it could have happened to you, too."