The wife of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, Olena Zelenska, thanked Germany for granting asylum to numerous of her compatriots. “I am very grateful to Germany and the German people for taking in our refugees – I only feel gratitude here, gratitude from the bottom of my heart,” said Selenska in an interview with WELT AM SONNTAG.

On the question of German arms deliveries, Selenska added: “But if someone is killed in front of their own eyes, everyone decides for themselves whether they want to help or watch.” This is not a political, but a moral decision. “When politics begins with the question: ‘What do I get for it?’ Morality runs away.”

As First Lady, she is not responsible for armament issues, according to Selenska. “But if anyone can help Ukraine at the front – and not just with humanitarian issues – then of course it’s Germany,” said Selenska.

In an interview, Olena Selenska accused the Russian troops in her country of committing sexualized violence in a manner similar to that of the terrorist group Islamic State (IS). “It’s awful to say it, but many Ukrainian women are experiencing the same thing under occupation,” she said.

She referred to the Nobel Peace Prize winner Nadia Murad, who had been enslaved by IS. “Ukrainian women – there are around two million more than Ukrainian men – are experiencing the horror right now,” said Zelenska, adding: “Because the Russian occupiers are no better than IS terrorists.”

However, the Ukrainian women are “not passive victims”, according to the president’s wife. “Each and every one of them has their own personal history of resistance,” Selenska said. The majority of doctors and teachers in Ukraine are women, about 37,000 women fought in the ranks of the Ukrainian armed forces, of which more than 1,000 have already become commanders.