“We can not see the end of our pain,” he said. Russian forces have eliminated most of Ukraine’s defenses in the Luhansk region and have consolidated control of a southern zone. Luhansk and neighboring Donetsk make up the Donbass region of Ukraine, an industrial heart full of factories and coal fields that has hosted sporadic clashes since 2014, when Russian-backed separatists seized control of two territories – the People’s Republic of Ukraine. Donetsk and Luhansk Democratic Republic. Zelenska’s husband, President Volodymyr Zelensky, told G7 leaders on Monday that he wanted to end the war in Ukraine by early next year. Fighting continues to rage in the east for the time being, with rockets hitting targets across the country – including on Monday, a shopping mall with at least 1,000 people in attendance when an air raid siren sounded. At least 18 people have been killed and dozens are missing. Like her husband, Zelenska called the attack “terrorism.” While she said that she was “shocked” by the incident, she explained that she was outraged by how many times the methods of the Russian army have surprised her. “We have been shocked many times. I do not know what else the conquerors can shock us with,” Zelenska said.

An uprooted family

Zelenska said she and her children had not seen Zelensky for two months during the war. In the early days of the war, the president lived in his office and his family was forbidden to stay there to keep them safe. The fighting has since moved further away from Kyiv, allowing the family to concentrate – but not for long periods of time. Their experience, Zelenska said, is not unique. He estimated that half of all Ukrainian families had been separated by the war. “Our relationship is at a standstill, as it is for all Ukrainians,” he said. “We, like any family, are waiting to meet again, to be together again.” Zelenska said that she and others try to succeed “trying to find joy in simple things”, even if it is elusive. She likened herself to a photograph in the town of Borodianka, a town east of Kiev occupied by Russian forces in the early days of the war. The picture, Zelenska said, shows a series of bombed-out, leveled buildings, with only one thing left – a closet.
“I’m like this closet in Borodyanka,” Zelenska said. “I try to hold on, just like this closet.”