Editor’s Note: As Ukraine gets set to inaugurate its sixth president by May 28, the Kyiv Post is asking Ukrainians and those with Ukrainian ancestry who live abroad to send in their pictures (horizontal mug shots, please) with answers to the following three questions for publication. Please keep responses brief — no more than 200 words for each answer or 600 words in all. Include contact details for verification as well as full name, occupation and country of residence. A selection of respondents will be published periodically before Volodymyr Zelenskiy is sworn in as president. Send responses/photos with the subject header “Ukrainian Voices From Abroad” to Kyiv Post chief editor Brian Bonner at [email protected]
Vera Avramenko, a native of Lubny, Ukraine, is a flight attendant based in Doha, Qatar.
Kyiv Post: What do you hope for most from President Volodymyr Zelenskiy?
Vera Avramenko: If there was such a thing as “Ukrainian dream,”even then I would not call it as such when it comes to Volodymyr Zelenskiy becoming a president. His motives and means are quite dubious, in my opinion. But what’s done is done and I hope his work will prove me wrong.
Kyiv Post: What is the No. 1 priority facing Ukraine?
Vera Avramenko: The No. 1 priority is for the Ukrainian people is to understand that what was going on for decades cannot be eliminated instantly or even within a span of five years and changing the priorities or experimenting may bring a lot of damage, if it hasn’t already.
Kyiv Post: What is the biggest obstacle that the new president must overcome to achieve success?
Vera Avramenko: The biggest obstacle is that he will be having hard time making people take him seriously, even though it is not funny anymore.
