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Volodymyr Zelenskyy and wife Olena labelled 'grifters' after Vogue PHOTOSHOOT as war rages in Ukraine

Conservative political activist Scott Presler wrote on Twitter, 'You're at war & you've got time for photo shoots?'

Volodymyr Zelenskyy, the president of Ukraine, and his wife Olena Zelenska have stirred a heated internet debate after posing for a Vogue photoshoot in the midst of their country's prolonged conflict with Russian invaders. The duo posed for a series of photographs by renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz for the American version of the prestigious magazine more than 150 days after Russian President Vladimir Putin's troops invaded Ukraine.

In the images with his wife, the leader was seen talking about the repercussions of the conflict with Russia that began in February. Zelenska stated in her interview that she had "the most horrible months" of her life during the conflict. "These have been the most horrible months of my life, and the lives of every Ukrainian," Zelenska told Vogue, speaking via a translator in her native tongue. "Frankly I don’t think anyone is aware of how we have managed emotionally. We're looking forward to victory. We have no doubt we will prevail. And this is what keeps us going," she added.

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Zelenskyy expressed concern for the security of his family in the interview. "Like any ordinary man, I have been worried sick about them, about their safety. I didn't want them to be put in danger," he said. "It's not about romance. It's about horrors that were happening here in Kyiv’s outskirts and all those horrors that are happening now in our country, in occupied territories," Zelenskyy added. "But of course I've been missing them. I've wanted to hug them so much. I've wanted to be able to touch them."

Zelenskyy expressed his pride in Zelenska for persisting said, "She has a strong personality to start with. And probably she is stronger than she thought she was. And this war—well, any war is probably bound to bring out qualities you never expected to have."

Shortly after the Vogue team posted the images, a discussion about whether such an excursion was appropriate during a time of conflict arose on social media. Conservative political activist Scott Presler wrote on Twitter, "Why did we send $54 billion to Ukraine, so Zelensky & his wife could pose for Vogue? You're at war & you've got time for photo shoots?"

The photoshoot was deemed to be a bad idea by American political scientist Ian Bremmer, who wrote, "Zelensky has done an extraordinary job in beating the Russians in information warfare vogue wartime photo shoot: bad idea."

"I respected Zelensky at the beginning of the war when we were flooded with photos of the Ukrainian President on the frontline in tactical gear," Avi Yemini, the chief Australian correspondent for the far-right political website Rebel News, wrote. "Turned out the photos were faked. An act like the man himself. Now posing for Vogue. All to grift billions from western taxpayers."

Republican politician Lavern Spicer wrote, "While I have the liberals here on my page, how do you all feel about your Messiah Zelenskyy doing photoshoots for Vogue Magazine while we're sending him billions for his war with Putin? I don't remember the photoshoots of Neville Chamberlain for Cosmopolitan back in 1940!"