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Russia invaded Ukraine in February, with Russian President Vladimir Putin calling it a “special military operation.” Citizens have been fleeing their homes for refuge and heartbreaking photos of the destruction and of people hiding in subway bomb shelters have been all over social media. For actress Mila Kunis, who was born in Chernivtsi, Ukraine, it’s deeply personal. She and husband Ashton Kutcher have raised nearly $20 million with a GoFundMe for aid to the Ukraine.
Kunis spoke with Maria Shriver for her digital series Conversations Above the Noise and explained that she has been devastated by the destruction of her home country. Kunis moved to America as a young child, and says she didn’t always feel that intense connection to Ukraine.
“I very much have always felt like an American,” said Kunis. “People were like, ‘Oh, you’re so Eastern European.’ I was like, ‘I’m so L.A. What do you mean?’ My whole life I was like L.A. through and through. Then this happens—and mind you, we have friends in Ukraine, Ash and I went and met with [President Volodymyr] Zelenskyy right before COVID. I’ve been there, but have always considered myself very much an American.”
She continued, “This happens and I can’t express or explain what came over me, but all of a sudden I genuinely was, like, ‘Oh my God, I feel like a part of my heart just got ripped out.’ It was the weirdest feeling.”
Kunis wants to be clear that she does not support villainizing Russia.
“I don’t think that we need to consider the people of Russia an enemy. I do really want to emphasize that,” Kunis insisted. “I don’t think that that’s being said enough in the press. I think that there’s now, ‘If you’re not with us, you’re against us’ mentality. I don’t want people to conflate the two problems that are happening. I don’t think it’s the people of Russia. I don’t want there to be a thing of ‘all Russians are horrible human beings.’ I don’t want that to be the rhetoric. I do encourage people to look at it from the perspective of, ‘It’s the people in power, not the people themselves.’”
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