Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has the world’s attention, including celebrities who are weighing in on the ongoing crisis and doing their part to help those affected.
Russia’s attack on Ukraine began in the pre-dawn hours of Moscow on Feb. 24 and international backlash followed swiftly in the form of sanctions by the United States and a host of other countries.
Putin has continued to push forward, slowly encroaching into the one-time Soviet Republic that has expressed a desire to someday join NATO.
The fighting has led more than 3.38 million people to flee Ukraine, the U.N. estimates. The death toll remains unknown, though Ukraine has said thousands of civilians have died.
Congress passed $13.6 billion in humanitarian aid money for Ukraine as celebrities also raise funds for the country. Here’s what stars are saying and doing as the they decry the Ukraine-Russia crisis.
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Bethenny Frankel’s charity raises over $85M
Entrepreneur and reality star Bethenny Frankel’s charity, BStrong, has raised over $85million to relocate and support Ukrainian refugees as of March 24
Frankel said in an Associated Press interview that “90 percent” of donors were the “average-salary American” – the only “well-known people who’ve donated are Billy and Alexis Joel, Matthew and Camila McConaughey and Carolina Panthers owner David Tepper.”
The charity originally raised $10 million in early March, according to a tweet from Frankel. Now, the organization aims to collect $100 million.
“We’re getting refugees out and aid into Ukraine. It’s not about taking care of them on the border. It’s, ‘Where do you need to go? Who do you need to see?’ And get you out,” Frankel said earlier this month on the “Tamron Hall” show.
BStrong has partnered with local travel agencies to assist with refugees’ travel logistics, and with Goya Europe, which had donated over 100,000 pounds of food as of late February. The charity has set up several tents to aid those in need and is working on securing a warehouse, Frankel said in a video update. The charity also partnered with Aerial Recovery Group, made up for former Green Berets who will “go in with vans and extract people who are under siege” in Ukraine.
Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher join video call with Zelenskyy after $35 million fundraiser
Mila Kunis is giving back to her homeland of Ukraine with the help of husband Ashton Kutcher, and the efforts have not gone unnoticed by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
The couple has helped raise over $35 million in humanitarian relief for the people of Ukraine through their fundraiser on GoFundMe.
Zelenskyy thanked the celebrities in a tweet on Sunday, showcasing a photo of the two joining him for a Zoom video call.
“@aplusk & Mila Kunis were among the first to respond to our grief,” the president tweeted. “They have already raised $35 million & are sending it to @flexport & @Airbnb to help refugees. Grateful for their support. Impressed by their determination. They inspire the world. #StandWithUkraine”
Kunis and Kutcher exceeded their initial fundraising goal of $30 million, thanks to the donations of more than 65,000 people, the couple said in a recent video.
“We’re gonna do everything we can to ensure that the outpouring of love that came from you all as a part of this campaign finds the maximum impact with those in need,” Kutcher said in the video.
The couple matched $3 million for the fundraiser, which will benefit freight forwarder Flexport and vacation rental company Airbnb. The two organizations will facilitate aid efforts by “transporting humanitarian aid to known NGOs on the ground” and “providing free, short-term housing to up to 100,000 refugees fleeing Ukraine,” Kunis and Kutcher said.
“The people of Ukraine are strong and brave, but being strong and brave doesn’t mean you’re not worthy of support,” Kunis said in a video announcing the fundraiser.
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‘DWTS’ pro Maksim Chmerkovskiy returns to Poland
Ukrainian former “Dancing With the Stars” professional dancer Maksim Chmerkovskiy has returned to the front lines to assist his home country in relief efforts after fleeing earlier this month.
The choreographer, 42, shared a video update March 20 on Instagram, telling his followers he’s “fine” after returning to Warsaw, Poland, three weeks after his exit. He was able to make it on a flight to Los Angeles following an “insane” exit from Ukraine to Warsaw via train that he said was going to require “lots of therapy.”
He’s now working with his father and brother, fellow “DWTS” choreographer Val Chmerkovskiy, on their new organization, Baranova 27, named after their childhood address in Odesa, Ukraine.
“People are getting tired, and this is the time that I would like to ask everybody to realize that it didn’t end or slow down, it got worse in Ukraine,” Chmerkovskiy said, pleading for viewers to rest but then “come back to us” and continue helping to support those in need.
In the first few weeks, they’ve raised about $123,000, shipped 134,000 pounds of items such as first aid, baby care and hygiene products. Now, they plan to start a new GoFundMe campaign, aiming to collect $250,000, primarily for shipping costs.
“We now showed Ukraine as a world that we can all do it together, and we have to continue proudly doing that,” he said.
A few weeks prior, Chmerkovskiy described his harrowing train ride out of Ukraine and into Poland as “like out of a movie” and said he felt “guilt” for escaping. He said he went 36 hours without sleep during the trek and remained standing for most of it so as not to take up an additional seat.
“I’m having a horrible time. I’m having very mixed emotions. I have my friends there, my friends in (the) frontline,” he said. “I can’t hear from some of the people. I can’t get in touch with them. I don’t know if they’re dead.”
Michael Keaton, more stars speak out at Critics Choice Awards
Michael Keaton, Billy Crystal, Maria Bakalova and more stars took time during their appearances on stage at the Critics Choice Awards to acknowledge the ongoing crisis in Ukraine and show support to the country under siege.
Keaton, who won best actor in a limited series for his work in “Dopesick,” delivered a powerful speech on opioid addiction, which the series explores, and on the war.
“I want to say thank you to fellow actor President Zelenskyy, and keep up the fight! There is only one way to change things environmentally, socially, and for some sort of racial justice and social justice, two words: Voting rights,” he said before closing. “Voting rights and voter suppression.”
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Crystal shared that his grandmothers were from Odessa and Kyiv and escaped to America and that their laughter fueled his career. “I pray that somehow, someway, there can be laughter and joy in that part of the world once again,” he said.
Bakalova, who noted that she is from Bulgaria, “just a few hundred miles from Ukraine,” praised the “bravery of the people of Ukraine, who are defending their right to independence and democracy.”
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Former Miss Ukraine describes Kyiv escape, asks for aid
Veronika Didusenko, who was crowned Miss Ukraine in 2018, said she and her 7-year-old son were awoken on the first day of the invasion to the sounds of air raid sirens and explosions, and they joined thousands of others on the road to evacuate.
“On my … journey to the border of Ukraine, there was no place where sirens would not sound, where rockets and bombs would not explode,” she said.
Didusenko told her story at a news conference in the Los Angeles office of women’s rights attorney Gloria Allred, who said she became friends with the former beauty queen several months ago.
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Didusenko and her son eventually made it to Moldova and traveled through other European countries before reaching Geneva, Switzerland. Didusenko said she made the “heartbreaking” decision to leave her son there to travel to the United States to hold the press conference with Allred.
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Gigi and Bella Hadid, Kaia Gerber donate fashion show earnings
In an Instagram post March 6, Gigi Hadid pledged to donate her earnings from walking in the fall/winter 2022 fashion shows to aid Ukrainians suffering from the war. She also noted she would be continuing her aid to Palestine as well.
“Our eyes and hearts must be open to all human injustice,” Gigi Hadid wrote. “May we all see each other as brothers and sisters, beyond politics, beyond race, beyond religion. At the the end of the day, innocent lives pay for war- not leaders.”
Days later, her sister Bella Hadid also announced she would be taking after her “amazing sis” and donating her fashion week earnings to help Ukraine as well.
Bella Hadid wrote that she stands alongside “every person that has been affected by this war” and whose “lives have been changed forever from the hands of ‘power.’ “
Model Kaia Gerber will also be donating a portion of her fashion week earnings to organizations dedicated to helping Ukrainians amid the invasion.
Met Opera holds Ukraine relief benefit
The Metropolitan Opera held a benefit concert on March 14 for Ukraine relief efforts that was broadcast on radio worldwide, including on Ukrainian public radio.
Music director Yannick Nézet-Séguin led the program featuring Ukrainian bass-baritone Vladyslav Buialskyi and the Met chorus, who performed Ukraine’s national anthem and “A Prayer for the Ukraine,” a choral work by a Ukrainian composer Valentin Silvestrov.
“It was so emotional and powerful. In some moments it was so sensitive and hard to not show my emotions,” Buialskyi said after the show. “I’m so grateful to the theater, to all the people who helped to do this.”
Sting sings ‘Russians’ to support Ukraine: ‘Never thought it would be relevant again’
Sting revived his suddenly relevant ‘80s solo song “Russians” with a new performance on Instagram.
“In the light of one man’s bloody and woefully misguided decision to invade a peaceful, unthreatening neighbor, the song is, once again, a plea for our common humanity,” he told followers on Saturday, noting that he’s rarely sung the song since it was written during the Cold War for his first solo album, 1985’s “The Dream of the Blue Turtles.”
“For the brave Ukrainians fighting against this brutal tyranny, and also the many Russians who are protesting this outrage despite the threat of arrest and imprisonment,” Sting wrote. “We, all of us, love our children. Stop the war,”
Sting urged fans to send humanitarian aid to Poland to be delivered to Ukrainian refugees.
Fox News’ Greg Gutfeld’s mother-in-law fled safely to Poland
Greg Gutfeld confirmed on-air that his mother-in-law has made it safely to Poland after being at a hotel in Lviv, Ukraine, amid the ongoing crisis.
Gutfeld shared the news with his colleagues on “The Five” on Thursday.
“Just to let everybody know, my mother-in-law crossed into Poland about half an hour ago,” he said. “She’s in a car on the way to Warsaw to see her daughter.”
Oprah writes about Ukraine’s courage amid invasion
Oprah Winfrey wrote a lengthy message on her Oprah Daily website to honor the Ukrainian people during these tumultuous times.
“The courage of the Ukrainian people has lit a fire within people all over the world—count me among them. United as one to resist subjugation by Russia through any means necessary, their living, breathing example stands as a profound wake-up call to all of us,” Winfrey wrote on the Tuesday post. “We must not take our democracy for granted.”
Winfrey also praised Zelenskyy’s “inspirational leadership” and acknowledged other heroes such as the volunteers who have taken up arms.
Blake Lively, Ryan Reynolds match refugee donations
Celebrity couple Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds announced Feb. 27 they are matching donations up to $1 million made to USA for United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees, a U.N. agency that works to aid and protect refugees.
“@usaforunhcr is on the ground helping the 50,000+ Ukrainians who had to flee their homes in less than 48 hours,” Lively explained in a social media post. “@usaforunhcr is providing life saving aid, and also working with neighboring countries to ensure protection for these families.”
Prince William, Duchess Kate stand with Ukraine
Prince William and Duchess Catherine of Cambridge recalled meeting President Zelenskyy and his wife, Olena Zelenska, in October 2020, when they said they had “the privilege” to “learn of their hope and optimism for Ukraine’s future.”
The royal couple added in the tweet, signed with their initials: “Today we stand with the President and all of Ukraine’s people as they bravely fight for that future.”
On March 9, Will and Kate visited the Ukrainian Cultural Centre in the Holland Park neighborhood of London to see the kind of efforts being made to support Ukrainians in the U.K. and across Europe.
Bearing homemade cakes baked by Kate for the workers at the center, the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge toured the facility with Ukraine’s ambassador to the U.K., Vadym Prystaiko and his wife Inna Prystaiko.
They met with volunteers and members of the local Ukrainian community, helped sort and package some of the enormous supply of donations coming into the center, and heard about the challenges of getting aid to where it’s most needed.
Prince Harry, Duchess Meghan support Ukraine with donations, speech
As Prince Harry and Meghan, the Duke and Duchess of Sussex, were honored with the President’s Award at the NAACP Image Awards Feb. 26 Harry showed gratitude to the NAACP for welcoming him into their community before he spoke about those in Ukraine impacted by the ongoing Russian invasion.
“We would like to acknowledge the people of Ukraine who urgently need our continued support as a global community,” Harry said while standing next to his wife. The couple was recognized for their outreach efforts in the U.S. and around the world.
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Prince Harry and Meghan have made donations to several organizations including HIAS, The HALO Trust and Are We Europe to provide aid to Ukraine, according to their Archewell website.
Prince Charles calls Ukraine invasion ‘unconscionable’
During a speech in the English coastal city of Southend-on-Sea on March 1, Prince Charles denounced the violence taking place in Ukraine and likened it to the murder of Parliament member Sir David Amess, who was stabbed to death last year, according to the BBC.
“What we saw in the terrible tragedy in Southend was an attack on democracy, on an open society, on freedom itself,” Charles said. “We are seeing those same values under attack today in Ukraine in the most unconscionable way. In the stand we take here, we are in solidarity with all those who are resisting brutal aggression.”
Hayden Panettiere, Angelina Jolie, Elton John ‘can’t continue to sit on the sidelines’ amid Ukraine invasion
For Hayden Panettiere, the Russian invasion of Ukraine hits close to home.
“There are no words to describe what it’s been like to watch the war on Ukraine unfold,” the “Nashville” star said in a video.
Panettiere is using her platform to help raise funds for the Ukrainians’ resistance efforts. She created the relief organization Hoplon International “to bring relief and aid directly to Ukrainians on the front lines,” including “life-saving supplies” such as body armor and medical kits.
“I can’t continue to sit on the sidelines just watching as this disaster rages on,” Panettiere said.
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Actress and humanitarian Angelina Jolie took to Instagram and said she’s “praying for the people in Ukraine.”
“My focus along with my @refugees colleagues is that everything possible is done to ensure the protection and basic human rights of those displaced, and refugees in the region. We have already seen reports of casualties and people starting to flee their homes to seek safety,” Jolie said.
Elton John shared a message on Feb. 27 in support of “the people of Ukraine who do not deserve to live through this nightmare.”
“For over 20 years, the Elton John AIDS Foundation has supported some of the most vulnerable people in Ukraine with access to HIV services and care, as part of our commitment to communities across Eastern Europe and Central Asia,” the post said. “During these devastating times, we stand for an end to the violence and suffering in Ukraine so that life-saving services and humanitarian aid can reach those desperately in need.”
Meghan McCain is ‘disgusted’
Meghan McCain shared a “Free Ukraine” photo on her Instagram and expressed her disdain for those in support of Russia’s invasion.
“I am nothing short of disgusted with the abject Putin propaganda coming out of so many people within the GOP and conservative media,” McCain wrote.
The former “View” co-host said the citizens of Ukraine are entitled to living in a free democracy.
“If Ukraine falls, the signals sent globally will be cataclysmic – expect China to invade Taiwan next. A threat to democracy anywhere, is a threat to democracy everywhere. That is not war mongering, it’s the stark reality of our geopolitics,” McCain wrote. “Some of you should really be taking a hard look about what exactly you stand for and why you’re so hypnotized by Vladimir Putin. I won’t forget, history won’t forget where you were in this moment.”
Contributing: Kim Willis, Elise Brisco, Amy Haneline, Edward Segarra, Charles Trepany, Hannah Yasharoff, Luciana Lopez, Maureen Groppe, Kim Hjelmgaard, John Bacon, Charles Ventura, Christal Hayes, Celina Tebor, Janet Loehrke, Ramon Padilla, Stephen J. Beard, George Petras, USA TODAY; Jonathan Landrum Jr., The Associated Press
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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Ukraine refugees: Bethenny Frankel, Mila Kunis, Ashton Kutcher support
