Ukrainian actress Mila Kunis has spoken out against the condemnation of Russians.
Since Russian President Vladimir Putin sent troops across the border on Thursday, February 24, marking the first day of the ongoing invasion of Ukraine, Kunis has opened up about how she was forced to escape Soviet Ukraine when she was only seven years old, going to the US with her family in the hopes of a better life.
Kunis and her husband, fellow actor, Ashton Kutcher, have since raised more than $18 million as part of a campaign titled 'Stand With Ukraine,' which has a goal of $30 million to help those in need.
However, Kunis has also spoken out against the polarisation of the Ukrainian and Russian peoples, urging people to blame those 'in power, not the people themselves'.
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In an interview with American journalist Maria Shriver, Kunis explained that while she has opened up about her roots and is raising money in support of Ukraine, she still sympathises with the people of Russia, Daily Beast reports.
She said: 'I do really want to emphasise that. 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. And I don’t want people to conflate the two problems that are happening.
'I don’t think it’s the people of Russia, and so 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, so 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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Kunis migrated to the United States in 1983 because of the city of Chernivts and the rest of Ukraine being 'very communist'.
'My parents wanted my brother and me to have a future, and so they just dropped everything,' she noted.
'I very much have always felt like an American. People were like, ‘Oh, you’re so Eastern European.’ I was like, ‘I’m so LA!,' she explained.
Despite being born in Soviet Ukraine, until now, the actress has always stated she is Russian.
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Reflecting on how she felt when she first heard about the start of the invasion, she said: 'This happens, and I can’t express or explain what came over me, but all of a sudden I was like, ‘Oh my God, I feel like a part of my heart just got ripped out.'
If you would like to donate to the Red Cross Emergency Appeal, which will help provide food, medicines and basic medical supplies, shelter and water to those in Ukraine, click here for more information
Poppy Bilderbeck