A letter to the media of the world, another to the first ladies and photos of Ukrainian children victims of the Russian invasion: Olena Zelenska, the hitherto rather discreet wife of President Volodymyr Zelensky, is waging her fight on social networks.
Posted at 7:18 a.m.
Described as playing a rather quiet role since her husband’s election as Ukraine’s president in 2019 – she told the magazine Vogue Ukraine that year not being a public figure – the first lady has come out of the shadows since the start of the war in her country. Architect by training, then scriptwriter for television, Olena Zelenska, 44 years old and mother of two children, also advises her husband in his communications since his election.
If the world discovered Volodymyr Zelensky’s determination and talents as a communicator through his filmed interventions on social networks, it is in writing that Olena Zelenska communicates with the Ukrainian people and the international community. On Facebook, Instagram and Telegram [le compte Twitter à son nom est un faux, a-t-elle précisé], she recounts in English and Ukrainian the horrors of war, highlighting its victims. Here, little Sasha who was shot and amputated while trying to flee with her family. There, Anna, 12, who saw her chemotherapy treatments interrupted.
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IMAGE FROM OLENA ZELENSKA’S INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT
In this Instagram post, Olena Zelenska tells the story of Sasha, a little girl from Gostomel (Hostomel) who was injured while trying to flee the city with her family. His father was killed.
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IMAGE FROM OLENA ZELENSKA’S INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT
Here, she shows Anna, 12, with her grandmother Tetiana. Suffering from leukemia, the young dancer from Kyiv saw her chemotherapy treatments interrupted until she could continue them abroad.
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IMAGE FROM OLENA ZELENSKA’S INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT
Two small patients from a hospital are now being treated in an air raid shelter.
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“She shows another face, the reality of war through her mother’s, woman’s gaze”, observes Simon Thibault, expert in political communication and professor in the political science department of the University of Montreal. An image that is complementary to that of her husband, who presents himself as head of the army.
There is something very sensitive in the fact that she does not detach herself from the conflict. She says: “I, like other mothers, am afraid. Like other wives, I fear for my husband.”
Martine St-Victor, communications strategist and general manager of Edelman Montreal
PHOTO VOLODYMYR ZELENSKY, SUPPLIED BY REUTERS
Olena Zelenska and her husband, Volodymyr Zelensky, recorded a video message in Kyiv on Valentine’s Day, before the Russian invasion began.
Like the latter, Olena Zelenska remained in Ukraine. She hides in a secret location for security reasons. It was from there that she gave an interview to the American network ABC News by means of WhatsApp messaging. “Stop the war! “, she claimed, while relaying the request made by her husband to NATO to establish a no-fly zone over Ukraine.
A framed strategy
Whether this exit from the shadow of Olena Zelenska is spontaneous or calculated, it is certainly well framed, according to the two experts.
“We are in a propaganda campaign”, observes Simon Thibault, specifying that although we often associate propaganda with disinformation, there is a more transparent propaganda which aims to convince while betting on a truthful message and on the emotion.
They know it’s important to try to win this war [de l’information] precisely to reach as many people as possible and ensure that Ukraine gets the help it needs.
Simon Thibault, expert in political communication and professor in the department of political science at the University of Montreal
In response to the many interview requests she received, Olena Zelenska published an op-ed on March 8 entitled “I Testify…” (I testify). The one who has been involved with children since she became first lady denounces the “mass murder of Ukrainian civilians”. “When Russia says it ‘does not wage war on civilians’, I first name the names of these murdered children,” she wrote.
IMAGE FROM OLENA ZELENSKA’S INSTAGRAM ACCOUNT
In response to interview requests she received, Olena Zelenska wrote a letter to media around the world.
Martine St-Victor sees in it an echo of “J’accuse…! by Émile Zola, published in 1898, in which he denounced the anti-Semitism of the French government in the Dreyfus affair. “Obviously, the subject is not the same. We are not talking about the same story at all, but “I accuse…!” and “I Testify…”, the way it’s presented, the way the infographic is done, I think there’s an almost direct parallel. They are very clever, the communication teams of Olena Zelenska and her husband. »
With 2.6 million followers on Instagram, Mme Zelenska has a real power of influence, notes Martine St-Victor, particularly with regard to the other first ladies. She also sent them a letter, published on Wednesday, also on social networks, in which she implores their help for the establishment of humanitarian corridors in her country.
“I can’t remember in recent history a first lady of a democratic country who uses social media so much to try to move the international community and then try to make sure that community responds to the needs of his country, says Simon Thibault. That’s why it marks the imagination so much. »
Many now compare her to Michelle Obama, another first lady whose popularity has crossed borders. The future is obviously uncertain, but according to Martine St-Victor, the influence of Olena Zelenska could continue beyond the conflict. “Once this is all over, she will be invited to major conferences. We’ll see her on the cover of the magazine Time, in the list of the 100 most influential people this year. She will be entitled to a highly publicized visit to the White House. She is now part of this circle, much like Malala, who has become an emblematic figure. “And in the short term, when the Ukrainian government will have to launch a new call for the mobilization of its people, other than military, it is to her that it will appeal, she predicts.