The latest Vogue photo shoot, by renowned photographer Annie Leibovitz, is drawing criticism for its depiction of Ukraine’s First Lady Olena Zelenska. The digital cover story, which will go in print this October, features the first lady amid sandbags and a war-torn airplane along with an essay on Zelenska’s life during the war. Critics say that posing for Vogue in a war-torn Ukraine is disrespectful. Supporters, meanwhile, applaud the first lady for using the fashion magazine to rally western support for the country.

The cover from the Vogue photo shoot shows a picture of Zelenska sitting in front of ornate columns that are sandwiching several sandbags. The series of images, which Leibovitz traveled to Kyiv to shoot, also includes the first lady standing amid wreckage at the Antonov Airport, surrounded by female soldiers. Another image appears to be taken in the same once luxurious room as the cover photo, only now surrounded by sandbags, with a solider standing over her shoulder. Another image shows both the first lady and President Volodymyr Zelenskyy holding hands in the presidential office compound. In all of the images, no one is smiling.

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A post shared by Vogue (@voguemagazine)

The accompanying article by Rachel Donadio, which focuses on the first lady rather than the president, also presents a female face of the war. “The female voices in this war need to be heard, need to be represented,” Tetyana Solovey, a former Vogue Ukraine editor says inside the article. The article only briefly mentions fashion, noting that the first lady was wearing Ukrainian designers. One designer, Julie Pelipas, noting that “she’s not afraid to be looking too masculine next to the president. This is also the sign of a modern woman in Ukraine—we’re not afraid to show that we’re stronger, that we’re equal with men.”

Critics felt the feature on the cover of a fashion magazine known for featuring pricey clothing too glamorous amid the war. Others, including U.S. House candidate Lauren Boebert, criticized the Zelenskyys for doing a Vogue photo shoot while receiving $60 billion in aid. Others said the soldiers and volunteers were more deserving of the cover feature. Many Twitter users commenting on Leibovitz’s images said the shoot was “glamorizing” war.

Others, however, supported the cover shoot. Vanessa Friedman, fashion director for The New York Times, says that Zelenska has “weaponized Vogue.” She writes that, “By putting Ms. Zelenska on its cover, Vogue is furthering her role as the relatable face, and voice, of the struggle; bringing her up close and personal for the watching world. And by appearing in public, and raising issues in public, when her husband cannot, she is keeping her country’s needs alive in the international conversation at a time when other crises are vying for attention.”

Washington Post columnist Sonny Bunch argues that without presenting issues with a celebrity or influencer, the American public is “likely to stop paying attention. We have remarkably poor attention spans.”

Twitter users volleyed back and forth, some arguing that art shouldn’t be made in an active war; others arguing that art is a way that humans have always responded to current events. Still others called the shoot “shameless self-promotion,” while others asked why Vogue didn’t hire a Ukrainian photographer.

Supporters also noted the role of public relations in modern warfare. President Zelenskyy, previously an actor and comedian, has been noted for his emotional appeals and his use of the media to wage a modern war. In an article earlier this year, Vox described the president as “making himself the main character of a story we might not easily follow otherwise.”

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