Out of wartime hiding, Ukraine’s first lady makes US visit

ELLEN KNICKMEYER
Associated Press

WASHINGTON (AP) — Ukraine’s first lady has arrived in Washington for her highest-profile event since Russian troops invaded her country five months ago. Olena Zelenska launched a U.S. trip Monday that will include a session with first lady Jill Biden. Blue and yellow Ukrainian flags flew alongside American ones on Pennsylvania Avenue as Zelenska headed for a meeting with Secretary of State Antony Blinken. The Ukrainian first lady will talk with Jill Biden on Tuesday. On Wednesday, she will speak to lawmakers in the congressional auditorium. Zelenska was a scriptwriter for her husband, comedian-turned-president Volodymyr Zelenskyy. She went into hiding with the couple’s two children in the first months of the war, but increasingly has been speaking publicly.