Featured Image Credit: Alamy
Topics: Film and TV, Leonardo DiCaprio, Ukraine, Instagram
Cameron Frew
Leonardo DiCaprio has made a rare social media post to support victims of Russia's invasion of Ukraine.
We're now 23 days into Vladimir Putin's 'special military operation'. This morning, March 18, air raid sirens have been blaring across Kyiv amid blasts across the country, however Russian forces haven't made many major moves in the past 24 hours.
More than three million people have fled the country since the conflict began, amid thousands of deaths between civilians and troops on either side.
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The war has resulted in a humanitarian crisis, with work ongoing to maintain safe corridors for Ukrainian civilians to escape. For example, more than 20,000 people managed to flee the besieged city of Mariupol, where a maternity hospital was bombed, along a route to the Ukraine-held city of Zaporizhzhia.
Now, DiCaprio, who generally only takes to social media to discuss climate change (even his efforts to promote his own movies are pretty minimal), has made a rare Instagram post advocating for the victims of war in Ukraine.
"The victims of warfare in Ukraine have lost everything from their loved ones to basic materials for survival. Humanitarian organisations like @SavetheChildren @careorg @IRC and @refugees are on the ground, dedicating their personnel and resources to support families and innocent people," he wrote.
Other actors have been using their platforms to support Ukraine throughout the invasion. Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds pledged to double every dollar up to $1 million donated to USA for UNHCR, a nonprofit organisation providing protection and humanitarian assistance to Ukrainian refugees.
Resident Evil star Milla Jovovich, a native of Ukraine, posted an emotional statement to Instagram. "I am heartbroken and dumbstruck trying to process the events of this week in my birthplace of Ukraine," she wrote.
"My country and people being bombed. Friends and family in hiding. My blood and my roots come from both Russia and Ukraine. I am torn in two as I watch the horror unfolding, the country being destroyed, families being displaced, their whole life lying in charred fragments around them.
"I remember the war in my father’s homeland of former Yugoslavia and the stories my family tells of the trauma and terror they experienced. War. Always war. Leaders who cannot bring peace. The never ending juggernaut of imperialism. And always, the people pay in bloodshed and tears."
Mila Kunis, who fled Soviet Ukraine as a child, and Ashton Kutcher have been raising millions of dollars for Ukrainian refugees, even managing to pass their $30 million target.
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