New Delhi: Hollywood actor Sean Penn is in Ukraine filming a documentary about the Russia’s invasion, American news outlets reported Friday.
The Oscar-winning actor was photographed a day ago attending a press briefing at the Presidential Office in Kyiv as Russia began its military offensive of Ukraine.
“Today, Sean Penn is among those who support Ukraine in Ukraine. Our country is grateful to him for such a display of courage and honesty,” the Office of the President wrote in a Facebook post.
The actor and filmmaker also met Deputy Prime Minister Iryna Vereshchuk and spoke to journalists and military personnel about the Russian aggression.
According to the post, Penn had come to Ukraine last November on a recce for the documentary. He visited the Azov region and spoke with the Ukrainian military
“Sean Penn demonstrates the courage that many others, including Western politicians, lack,” the post added.
The documentary is a Vice Studios production in association with Vice World News and Endeavor Content.
Penn is known to tiptoe around conflict regions and disaster zones. He had earlier travelled to Haiti after an earthquake of magnitude 7.0 rocked the country in 2010. In 2005, Penn had visited New Orleans to help the rescue efforts after Hurricane Katrina caused massive destruction.
“From climate to conflict resolution, to poverty and COVID-19, citizenship increasingly requires service. Service itself can be a bumpy road, but one we all have to travel,” Penn was quoted as saying in Entertainment Weekly last year. Penn has been involved in numerous international humanitarian activities through his organisation CORE.
His prior travels have been chronicled in Citizen Penn in the Discovery+ documentary.
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