Rome, 27 July 2022 – The President and the First Lady in a country at war on the cover of Vogue. The social world (and not only) did not take it well and the controversy immediately broke out. That Volodymyr Zelensky e Olena Zelenska appear in the most famous fashion and lifestyle magazine in the world, while Ukraine is devastated is an initiative branded as a “bad idea” even by a political scientist of the caliber of Ian Bremer, who has heard to speak on Twitter. He acknowledged that Ukraine has hitherto dominated in the “information war” with Russia, but this latest news, according to him, is a misstep on Kiev’s part.
Bremmer’s critical opinion drives a fiery controversy that unravels all in the comments on social media, naturally touching more latitudes and more tones. The fact is that Vogue ‘does Vogue’, and therefore, in support of an interview – signed by Rachel Donadio and which in fact also explores the more personal side of the life of a First Lady of a country at war – publishes a photoshoot made by the internationally renowned photographer Annie Liebovitzwhose technique and style are unmistakable: his lens has immortalized the Obama, Joe Biden, Jill Biden, Kamala Harris, Hillary Clinton, Elizabeth Warren.
This time, however, flawless make-up and hair with sandbags in the background in the presidential palace in Kiev according to many are elements that clash too much with each other. As well as Olena who ‘appears’ at Antonov airport in Gostomel holding the collar of a well-cut blue coat in front of what remains of a Ukrainian plane and surrounded by three female soldiers in camouflage, for some of the critical voices that have ridden in these hours the web can be an offensive approach to those who fight, who dies, who suffers. The choice of relying on the skilful lens of the photographer-star and on the pens of Vogue, however, seems to have been weighted by the presidency in Kiev, given that the profile also publishes a backstage of the photo shoot in which the Ukrainian president is seen collaborating in the shoot. Olena Zelenska in person then seems to claim this choice with a comment published on the Twitter profile of the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry and which has all the tone of being the First Lady’s response to the controversy: “Being on the cover of Vogue is a great honor and a dream for many prominent and successful people in the world. The only thing I wish for all of them is that this does not happen because there is a war in their country “.