Ukraine’s first lady included in TIME’s most influential people ranking

The wife of the Ukrainian leader Olena Zelenska and the Nobel Laureate human rights defender Oleksandra Matviichuk entered the list of the 100 most influential people on the planet in 2023 by TIME Magazine. 

TIME published a list of the 100 most influential people on the planet in 2023. There are six categories in the list. The publication reports that Ukrainian women were represented in the "Leaders" category.

In addition to the first lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, and Nobel Peace Prize laureate Oleksandra Matviichuk, the list includes:

• US President Joe Biden,
• Chancellor of Germany Olaf Scholz,
• Prime Minister of Japan Fumio Kishida,
• Evan Gershkovich, a journalist for The Wall Street Journal, arrested in the Russian Federation,
• and others.

"Olena Zelenska didn't expect to become a warrior for the people of Ukraine, but she has answered this call with selfless courage," US First Lady Jill Biden wrote in a profile for Zelenska.

"She could take her family and flee. What mother would blame her? Yet, she stays. She stays because freedom and democracy deserve defenders. She stays to show the world that heart and hope can make even the largest tyrant seem small. She stays for her children — for their future and the future of all Ukrainians."

Former First Lady Hillary Clinton wrote a profile for Matviichuk, saying that she is a renowned Ukrainian human-rights lawyer at just 39 years old, who devoted her life to protecting democracy. 

"Oleksandra and her team at the Center for Civil Liberties — a human-rights organization based in Kyiv — have strived to make Ukraine more democratic and document Russia's war crimes against civilians," Hilary Clinton says. "By documenting Russia's atrocities so perpetrators can face prosecution, she is proof that women are not just victims of war; they can be agents of peace and justice."