Ukraine's first lady Olena Zelenska to be guest speaker at Web Summit

Olena Zelenska was revealed as the much-anticipated surprise guest at the event in Lisbon on Tuesday afternoon

FILE - Ukraine President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife Olena pay tribute at a monument to victims of the Great Famine in Kyiv, Ukraine, Saturday, Nov. 23, 2019. Picture: AP Photo/Efrem Lukatsky, File

Tech event Web Summit has announced the wife of Ukraine’s president as its guest speaker for its launch event in Lisbon on Tuesday evening.

Olena Zelenska, who has been married to Volodymyr Zelensky since 2003, was revealed as the much-anticipated surprise guest at the event in the Portuguese capital on Tuesday afternoon.

The identity of the speaker had been hinted at by the event’s organisers in the week’s leading up to its launch but had remained secret until the hours immediately preceding her arrival.

Ms Zelenska follows previous guest speakers at Web Summit including Facebook whistleblower Francis Haugen in 2021 and National Security Agency documents leaker Edward Snowden in 2019.

Her presence was seen as a clear security risk given the precarious situation her country is currently in, having been involved in a destablising conflict following Russia’s invasion last February.

The first lady of Ukraine had tweeted on Monday regarding her country’s citizens’ experience each morning:

“Good morning European friends! How are you? Reading tweets, drinking coffee? Want to feel how Ukrainians start their day? Go down to cold basement for a couple of hours: with a flashlight and a power bank instead of a warm cup,” she said.

Good morning, European friends! How are you? Reading tweets, drinking coffee? Want to feel how Ukrainians start their day? Go down to cold basement for a couple of hours: with a flashlight and a power bank instead of a warm cup – having no idea when will the electricity be. 1/2

— Olena Zelenska / Олена Зеленська (@ZelenskaUA) October 31, 2022

Web Summit, the brainchild of controversial Irish tech entrepreneur Paddy Cosgrave, has been based in the Portuguese capital since 2017, having moved there from its initial home in Dublin.

The four-day event officially launches for its 70,000 attendees on Tuesday afternoon.