Hollywood star Mila Kunis has urged the world not to perceive the people of Russia as the ‘enemy’ amid the ongoing war with Ukraine as her fundraiser with Ashton Kutcher continues to raise millions of dollars for humanitarian aid.
Earlier this week, it was reported that a 40-mile ‘death convoy’ from Russia was on the move amid fears of a massive assault on the capital city of Kyiv.
The Ukrainian government has claimed that Russian troops shelled a mosque sheltering more than 80 people inside Mariupol, a besieged city that has seen trapped civilians struggle to gain access to food and water following continued barrages.
Kunis, who was born in Ukraine before fleeing with her family to the US when she was seven years old, has emphasised the importance of not blaming Russian civilians for the attacks, saying that they must not be viewed as the ‘enemy’.
Speaking on Maria Shriver’s digital series, she explained that she doesn’t believe that essential point is mentioned enough in the media.
‘I don’t think that we need to consider the people of Russia an enemy,’ the That ‘70s Show star said.
‘I do really want to emphasise that. I don’t think that that’s being said enough in the press.’
The 38-year-old continued, stating that she believes there is ‘now an “if you’re not with us, you’re against us” mentality’.
‘And I don’t want people to conflate the two problems that are happening. I don’t think it’s the people of Russia, so I don’t want there to be a thing of all Russians are horrible human beings,’ she said.
‘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.’
Kunis and her husband Kutcher, with whom she shares two children, recently set up a fundraiser on GoFundMe to ‘provide an immediate impact on refugee and humanitarian aid efforts’, with the money being sent to Flexport.org and Airbnb.
The couple explained that the two organisations ‘are actively on the ground providing immediate help to those who need it most’, setting a target of $30million (£23m) and raising over $20m (£15m) so far.
‘Today, I am a proud Ukrainian. While my family came to the United States in 1991, I was born in Chernivtsi, Ukraine in 1983,’ Kunis wrote on the fundraising page.
‘Ukrainians are proud and brave people who deserve our help in their time of need. This unjust attack on Ukraine and humanity at large is devastating and the Ukrainian people need our support.’
She added that they would begin the fund by matching up to $3m (£2.3m) in donations.
Credit: Original article published here.You can read this post on My Celebrity Life.