Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska said war has made her young son want to become a soldier
Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska said Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine has affected her own family, causing her young son to lose interest in past hobbies.
Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska said Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine has affected her own family, causing her young son to lose interest in past hobbies and pushing him to want to become a soldier.
In an exclusive interview Wednesday with NBC News, Zelenska said she can’t get her 9-year-old son to return to “doing arts and humanities.”
“Before the war, my son used to go to the folk dance ensemble. He played piano. He learned English. He of course attended sports club,” Zelenska told NBC News’ Peter Alexander through a translator. Now, she said, “the only thing he wants to do is martial arts and how to use a rifle.”
Ukraine’s first lady: War changed her son’s dream to becoming a soldierJuly 20, 202200:51Zelenska spent the day Wednesday with U.S. officials, sharing her country’s plea for more weapons to push back Russia’s invasion. She met with congressional leaders to make the ask on behalf of her husband, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who remains in Ukraine as the country enters its fifth month of war after Russia’s invasion.
In her message to Congress, she described a fear, sense of danger and preoccupation with the war that has gripped Ukrainians and highlighted her desire for children to be able to again find normalcy.
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