War in Ukraine: actor Sean Penn recounts his meeting with Volodymyr Zelensky


Back from Kiev, where he had gone to shoot a documentary for Vice, American actor and director Sean Penn recounted his meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, whose immense courage he emotionally praised.

“Meeting President Zelensky the day before the invasion and then seeing him again the day of the invasion, I don’t know if he knew he was born for this, but it was clear I was in the presence of something … it was new to the modern world in terms of courage, dignity and love,” Sean Penn said in an interview on Saturday March 5 for CNN. “It is an extraordinary moment. I was impressed and moved by him,” he added, his face marked by emotion and fatigue.

The presence of the actor with President Zelensky had coincided with the launch by the Russian army of its invasion of Ukraine, with the firing of shells and missiles near many cities of the country, and fighting at the gates of Kiev , which have since continued to bloody the country.

Sean Penn had notably been photographed among the participants of a government press conference in Kiev where he had met President Volodymyr Zelensky. The director had come to the capital especially to capture the events unfolding in Ukraine and as a documentary filmmaker, “to tell the world the truth about Russia’s invasion of our country”, it was written in Ukrainian on the Presidential Services Facebook page. “Today, Sean Penn is among those supporting Ukraine by being in Ukraine. Our country is grateful to him for such a display of courage and honesty. The services of Volodymyr Zelensky had also declared that the American artist had shown a courage “which is lacking in many others, particularly Western politicians”.

Sean Penn then left the country before the Russian strikes intensified, having, he wrote on Twitter, “the luxury of being able to leave a rental car on the side of the road”, to pass the border with Poland on foot and thus escape the bombs.

The actor branded by what he saw

“My two assistants and I walked for miles to the Polish border after leaving our car on the side of the road. Almost all the cars carry only women and children. We hardly see any luggage. Their car ultimately representing only their only valuable asset, ”he described.

“It was mostly women and children, some in groups, some just a mother and her child, in those cars. In some cases, fathers would drive them to drop them off, then turn back, because men between the ages of 18 and 60 are not allowed to leave, and must stay fighting against Russia. I haven’t seen any baggage, it’s as if they want to believe that they can come back”, continued to describe Sean Penn on CNN, insisting on the “urgency” of this departure which forced these families to leave their whole lives behind.

The Mystic River actor said he was “terrified” for the Ukrainian president and his people and asked the United States and more specifically Joe Biden to do everything to support the democracy of the Ukrainian people.

He said his non-profit, Community Organized Relief Effort (CORE), is doing what it can to help as Russia continues its onslaught. “We distribute hygiene kits. We give money and water to the refugees as they arrive,” he explained. “We are now working to bring our staff to the other side as well, because you really have two kinds of struggles with refugees. One is trying to get out of the country, and the other is looking for what to do”.

Speaking more directly about Putin’s actions and the war itself, the Oscar-winning actor and director told Anderson Cooper that it was in his mind that “it’s not going to end soon no matter what because you have a country with incredible insurgencies if Putin had his way,” he said. Calling on all those who can do so to make donations in favor of the Ukrainians, the star also advised the viewing of the documentary “Winter on Fire” by Evgeny Afineevsky, to understand “the sacrifices that the Ukrainians make in the name of freedom” .





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