Celebrities began using their platforms to speak out against the military action and show their support for the civilians affected by the attack shortly after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered an invasion into the Eastern European country, a move that US President Joe Biden called “unprovoked and unjustified.” Stars have been engaged both online and on the ground, offering resources and creating programmes to bring help to refugees.
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As the Russian military continues to descend on Ukraine, Bethenny Frankel’s BStrong charity is “in action to transport 100,000 hygiene supplies, #Bstrong survival kits, blankets, generators, and sleeping bags to Ukraine’s NATO boarding countries.”
“This initial supply promise will surpass $10M,” she said on Instagram on Thursday, Feb. 24. “Our teams will arrive in Rzeszów, Poland, on Friday to establish base camps for refugee operations in collaboration with our Polish and Ukrainian allies. We’re also collaborating with military personnel, former Green Berets, and airlifting cargo containers today.”
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Meanwhile, Sean Penn attended a press conference at the Presidential Office in Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, on Thursday. According to a translated statement from Ukraine’s President’s Office acquired by Newsweek, the actor-filmmaker “specially came to Kyiv to record all the events that are presently happening in Ukraine and to tell the world the truth about Russia’s invasion of our nation” for a documentary.
According to Variety, the project is a Vice Studios production in collaboration with Vice World News and Endeavor Content.
“Sean Penn is one of many who supports Ukraine in Ukraine today,” according to the statement. “Our country is grateful to him for such a brave and honest display.”
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Angelina Jolie, an ambassador for the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, issued her statement on Thursday, stating that her priority is to “ensure that everything possible is done to safeguard the protection and fundamental human rights of those displaced and refugees in the region.”
The Oscar winner said, “we have already seen stories of deaths and people fleeing their homes to seek safety.” It is too early to predict what will happen, but the importance of this moment—for the people of Ukraine and the international rule of law—cannot be emphasised.”
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She also included a link to the UNHCR’s official declaration pledging “to offer humanitarian aid wherever required and practicable” in her profile.
In the midst of the mounting issue, several celebrities have gone to social media to demand a halt to the invasion.
“Sending love and good prayers to all innocent people of Ukraine and Russia and Europe who are caught up in this sad and corrosive moment of asymmetrical violence and destruction, especially the young people,” Mark Ruffalo tweeted. “You have done nothing to deserve this perversion and obscene spectacle.”
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“I am standing in solidarity with everyone in Ukraine who has been harmed by this atrocity and our worldwide community that is calling for an end to this violence,” Miley Cyrus, who shot her “Nothing Breaks Like a Heart” music video in Kyiv, said in a message uploaded on her Twitter and Instagram Story.
Wladimir Klitschko, the Ukrainian boxing champion, said, “The world is watching to see how dangerous and lethal imperialism is, not only for #Ukraine but for the whole planet. Let history serve as a warning not to repeat itself.”
