International Women’s Day 2022: Brave Russian and Ukrainian women who spoke against war

Each year, March 8 is celebrated as International Women’s Day. This year as the world is witnessing a conflict in ‘Ukraine and Russia’ that many have termed as the largest war in Europe after ‘World War - II’, many prominent women celebrities from the region have openly spoken against the war. They have launched a fundraiser for Ukraine and former Miss Ukraine has come to the forefront and has joined the Ukrainian army as well.

Check out their stance.

(Pics courtesy: Instagram)

The 'Pacific Rim: Uprising' actress who is from Ukraine expressed that 'her world fell silent' after she got the news of the attacks. In an interview with Variety, she spoke about her family helping Ukrainian citizens during this tough time.

She said," My father has been relocating children and their mothers from Kyiv to safer parts of Ukraine where they have created a base for orphans and families of soldiers. His mother is in Crimea, a part of Ukraine that has been occupied since March 2014 - I have not been able to see her ever since. My other grandmother is hiding in a bunker that was used in World War II and up until now functioned as a city gym. The rest of my extended family is in Kyiv."

Former Miss Ukraine Anastasiia Lenna had joined the country's army to fight against Russia in the ongoing conflict. The top Ukraine model had also shared pictures holding a gun in combat dress in an Instagram post. Anastassia had also written a special message for the people. "Due current situation I want to talk! I am not a military, just a woman, just normal human," she wrote.  

French actress Olga Kurylenko, who has Ukrainian, Russian, and Belarusian ancestry, and was born and raised in Ukraine, shared how it was the Vikings who first moved into Russia. “Praying for Ukraine and the safety of its people,” she wrote on Instagram on February 24, along with the prayer hand emojis. She added the hashtag: "#Pleasestopthewar.”

American-Ukranian actress Milla Jovovich is heartbroken because of the war in Ukraine. "I am heartbroken and dumbstruck trying to process the events of this week in my birthplace of Ukraine. 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," wrote the actress.

Model and Rahul Mahajan's wife Natalya is half Russian and half Ukraine. She had penned a note on the current crisis on her Instagram and called for peace and 'no war'. She wrote, "I have overwhelming feelings about the situation and I keep checking the news and checking on my friends like family who are currently in Ukraine. I cannot take sides. I’m on the side of humanity. I’m Russian and I’m Ukrainian as much as I am German. My heart is with both. And all I wish and pray for is #peace and #nowar."

That 70s Show' actress Mila Kunis recently shared a video on Instagram in which she's seen condemning the attacks on her country Ukraine. She told fans that she was born in Chernivtsi, Ukraine, and her family immigrated to the United States in 1991. She and her husband Ashton Kutcher have launched a $30-million GoFundMe fundraiser for Ukrainian citizens.

Russian-American singer-songwriter Regina Spektor took to Istagram to pen a long note on the conflict. "A photo of an old photo… my Papa took this on a float during a May 9th celebration in the former USSR… May 9th was our biggest holiday, because it was celebrating Peace… It was the day WWII ended for us… My Jewish family is from everywhere. Most of my grandparents are from Ukraine… Jack’s too. All the “frontoviki” (people who fought Nazis in the war) fought the real Nazis together. The Russians and the Ukrainians, and many others- all together. People can love both cultures and be grateful for both cultures and respect each other… All of us are mutts anyhow… flying around like seeds in the wind, landing where we land after the world shakes her hair out. And all of us go floating in search of one thing: Peace. Today my heart hurts because no matter how many great works of art and music (Guernica…. Masters Of War… Most of Okudzhava and Vysotsky… Vonnegut… Remarque… all those films in all those languages…) portray the horrors of war, new Masters of War seem to rise up again in all the nations… Sending new children to slaughter each other… Yes there’s nothing funny about Peace, Love and Understanding… it’s so needed right now. There were, and still are, real Nazis in the world. But in Ukraine that are just millions of civilians being pulled into a war, and in Russia there are children being sent to fight and die for no reason other than the bottomless and horror filled “more more more more more more more” of politicians and corporations. And it’s terrifying… this part of being a grownup sucks. Being this aware of how endless these circles seem to be. My grandparents with their eyes full of hunger and war and wisdom are all gone now, and I can’t ask them the important questions anymore… I look at that kid with her white “bantiki” and I wish her, and all the little kids of the past, present, and future, some lasting peace," she wrote.