Olena Zelenska says ‘Every day, rescuers pull bodies of civilians out of the rubble of houses bombed and fired at by the enemy’

Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska has penned an open letter to all the First Ladies in the World.

The open letter from Olena Zelenska

I will never forget that August day in peaceful Kyiv when we held the Summit of the First Ladies and Gentlemen for the first time. I won’t forget our gathering in Saint Sophia Cathedral in Kyiv, a monument of Ukrainian architecture of the 11th century and a famous tourist spot of the capital.

I was apprehensive about this initiative because it was the first attempt to create a club of like-minded first couples who want to unite and change the world for the better together. But it all worked out perfectly – at the end of the Summit, there was a declaration to create a new platform for international cooperation among the world’s First Ladies and Gentlemen.

Another outcome of the Summit was a collaborative statement: we agreed to take care of women and children in armed conflict areas. It seems that we forefelt what was about to happen…

Exactly six months and one day later, the war came to Ukraine. You would not recognize the sunny, joyful Kyiv you saw back then. Shell fragments destroy its buildings. And densely populated areas are crying out with broken windows.

Every day, rescuers pull bodies of civilians out of the rubble of houses bombed and fired at by the enemy.

You would not recognize Ukraine – mass graves have taken the place of flourishing cities. And we, the survivors, grew decades older because we bury our children and mourn our parents every day.

But our friendship with you, established at that August summit, turned out to be stronger than the war. When the aggressor attacked Ukraine, you all came to help. You have all accepted our hardship as your own. You have responded to my request, and you tell the truth about what is truly happening in Ukraine, defeating the Kremlin’s fakes.

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You donate your own money and organize humanitarian aid, take care of shelters for Ukrainians forced to flee temporarily, and provide medical help to Ukrainian children who require immediate treatment.

It was an understatement when we said that we were the force at our Summit. We (and you!) are the remarkable Force for Good!
With this letter, I thank you all and dream of the opportunity to hug every one of you in person.

We might be separated by kilometers of war fronts, but I feel closer to you than ever. I do because I hear your questions every day: “What else can we do for Ukraine?” After all, you know that while Ukraine is now defending itself, it is also protecting the peace of the whole world, keeping the war away from you at the doorstep of Europe.

What can you do?

I am replying on behalf of Ukraine –

Over three million Ukrainians forced to flee have already arrived in your countries. These are women and children whose husbands and parents made a conscious decision to stay in Ukraine to fight.

They have lost their homes, they have seen bomb shelters and death, they barely get any sleep at night worrying about loved ones and their future as a whole. Please keep them warm. And I’m not just talking about the roof over their heads and food – it’s about adaptation – help them find work and provide education to their children.

Help them get access to medical services and, if necessary, attend language courses in your countries. Let them become your citizens temporarily – temporarily because they will definitely return. They will come back to Ukraine with your warmth in their hearts.

I am replying on behalf of Ukraine –

Thousands of our citizens were taken captives in their hometowns. We have no contact with them, and they have no access to food or medicine. Russian enemy does not let them evacuate, shooting in the backs of those who dared to leave.

You have probably seen the horrible footage of such an evacuation from Irpen – all the world’s media have shown it. People walked many kilometers, with children, elderly relatives, pets in their arms – and every few meters, they fell to the ground, trying to escape from mortar fire.

You’ve probably seen a photo of a family that couldn’t reach the rescue buses and were brutally shot just a few meters away from them. Mom, two children, and even dogs… Devastated father did not find anyone alive.

I am replying on behalf of Ukraine –

We need real safe humanitarian corridors! Corridors that are not being fired. Corridors where the elderly do not die of heart attacks. Where whole families do not get wiped out, we need to safely release our citizens from captivity! And this requires our joint strength, dear colleagues.

We need our joint statement to the Red Cross, UNICEF, OSCE with an apparent demand – to provide Ukraine with such corridors! Let these respected organizations finally do their direct duty and responsibility – saving people!

I am replying on behalf of Ukraine –

Since the beginning of the war, 4,300 children have been born. They were born in basements, subways serving as bomb shelters, and sometimes in shelled maternity hospitals – as happened the other day in Mariupol.

These children have never seen a peaceful sky. Just imagine that! In the coming months, 80,000 Ukrainian women will become mothers.

These mothers and children have the right not to be startled by explosions and cry from hunger and fear. They have the right to have peace. A peace that depends on you and me now.

That’s why we created our Summit first, didn’t we? And when we win, we will meet in peaceful sunny Kyiv again. Let’s agree on that, without any doubts and hesitations.

Kyiv is waiting!

Source: Ukrainian First Lady, Olena Zelenska’s Facebook Page.