In one of her first public appearances since the Russian invasion began just over three months ago, Olena Zelenska, wife of Volodymyr Zelenskyy and First Lady of Ukraine, gathered with grieving parents at the foot of Kyiv’s 11th-century St. Sophia Cathedral to memorialize the young boys and girls who have perished as a result of this war. To date, the conflict has claimed the lives of 261 children, with scores of other young Ukrainians from occupied territories abducted to Russia.
Under a silent sky, Mrs. Zelenska addressed the parents directly: “Today we have people who have lost the most. Parents. I lack the words to say how I sympathize. All words can now be banal and superfluous. Let me just be with you, share this pain. The whole country knows your stories, and you are not alone,” she said, visibly moved. “You should know that you are important. You were the most important people to your children. So take care of yourself for them. They would like that.”
The First Lady and parents hung tinkling brass bells from the boughs of a linden tree, one for each child, as the breeze lifted the sound. The soft rings stood for the voices of the innocent children, who could no longer fill their homes with laughter and joy. “It is the voice of these dead children,” she continued. “Each child is a universe. Ukraine has lost 261 universes.”
The initiative of Mrs. Zelenska included a minute of silence for the victims; the only sound was the gentle ringing of the bells.
Image: Olena Zelenska, wife of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, stands in front of a linden tree festooned with bells to address a gathering of parents grieving their lost children on June 4, 2022.
Image: The golden-domed St. Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, Ukraine, rises behind Ukrainian First Lady Olena Zelenska as she addresses a gathering of parents grieving their lost children on June 4, 2022.
Image: A memorial plaque, dated June 4, 2022, says in Ukrainian, English, and braille: “Event in memory of children killed in the armed aggression of the Russian Federation against Ukraine at the initiative of First Lady Olena Zelenska and with the support of SOCAR.”
Cover image: Olena Zelenska, wife of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, hangs a bell on a tree at a memorial for children killed as a result of Russian aggression in Kyiv, Ukraine, on June 4, 2022.
