First Lady Olena Zelenska attended the world premiere of the concert version of the opera Mothers of Kherson at the National Opera of Ukraine. The production serves as a prominent cultural and political platform to bring renewed global attention to the systematic abduction and deportation of Ukrainian children by Russian forces. The premiere was timed to mark a solemn anniversary, taking place on the International Day of Innocent Children Victims of Aggression. JOIN US ON TELEGRAMFollow our coverage of the war on the @Kyivpost_official. Based on true eyewitness testimonies Mothers of Kherson documents the journey of two mothers from the liberated southern city of Kherson who traveled more than 4,000 kilometers through several foreign countries and temporarily occupied territories to rescue their daughters, who were being held by Russian authorities on the Crimean Peninsula. The libretto is directly derived from the real-world testimonies of Ukrainian women who successfully navigated occupation infrastructure to repatriate their family members. The concert version performed in Kyiv represents the first public presentation of the work. The high-profile piece was co-commissioned through an international partnership between the Metropolitan Opera in New York and the Polish National Opera in Warsaw. Conducted by Keri-Lynn Wilson, the performance featured a collaborative ensemble including the orchestra and chorus of the National Opera of Ukraine, the Kyiv Camerata ensemble, and the Children’s Choir of the M. V. Lysenko Kyiv State Music Lyceum.