Veteran Hollywood actor and former California governor Arnold Schwarzenegger has called on Russian President Vladimir Putin in a video message to end the war in Ukraine. Schwarzenegger said in the video: “I am sending this message through various channels to reach my dear Russian friends and the Russian soldiers serving in Ukraine.” He added: “I am speaking to you today because there are things happening in the world that have been kept from you, terrible things that you should know about. Let me tell you the truth about the war in Ukraine.”
According to the Hollywood Reporter, Schwarzenberger spoke about how the fighting in February was instigated by Russia. He explained that the invasion “has been declared illegal by 141 countries, that many civilian buildings (such as a maternity hospital) have been bombed, that there is currently a massive refugee crisis and that thousands of Russian soldiers have died.”
Schwarzenberger told Russians in the video that the war was not in defense of Russia, as the Kremlin claims. He said: “The world has turned against Russia because of Russia’s actions in Ukraine. The destruction that Russian bombs have rained down on innocent civilians has so outraged the world that your country has been subjected to the strongest global economic sanctions ever… This is not a war in defense of Russia, like your grandfather or your great-grandfather fought. This is an illegal war.”
Arnold also shared his father’s story as a Nazi sergeant, grappling with the Russian government’s false claims that its troops were conducting a “de-Nazification” of Ukraine. “(My father) was injured in Leningrad, and the Nazi army he was a part of inflicted cruel suffering on that great city and its brave people,” he said. “When my father arrived in Leningrad, he was all fired up by the lies of his government. When he left Leningrad, he was broken – physically and mentally. He lived the rest of his life in pain – pain from his broken back, pain from the shrapnel that always reminded him of those terrible years, and pain from the guilt he felt. To the Russian soldiers listening to this broadcast, you already know much of the truth I’m talking about. You’ve seen it with your own eyes. I don’t want you to be broken like my father was,” Arnold shared.
Schwarzenegger ended the video with a message to Russian demonstrators who are protesting the war in Ukraine despite prison sentences. “The world has seen your bravery,” he said. “We know you have suffered the consequences of your bravery. You have been arrested, you have been imprisoned, and you have been beaten. You are my new heroes. You have the strength of Yuri Petrovich Vlasov. You have the true heart of Russia,” Arnold said. The video, shared by Arnold, has been viewed over 21 million times on Twitter.
