Sean Penn Spotted In Ukraine, Working On A Documentary

Actor and filmmaker, Sean Penn has been spotted in war-torn Ukraine, attending press conferences. CNN reports he also met with President Volodymyr Zelensky as Russia began its invasion of the former Soviet country.

According to a formal Facebook post from the government of Ukraine, Penn is in Kyiv to "tell the world the truth about Russia's invasion of our country." Here are the details...

Sean Penn earlier visited Ukraine in November 2021, and visited with the country's officials back then, reports Variety. At the time, photos of his trip were released by the Ukrainian Joint Forces Operation Press Service. Preparations for the filming of the documentary have been on since then, and it's a Vice Studios production, being made in association with Vice World News and Endeavor Content.

President Volodymyr Zelensky, an erstwhile actor and comedian, Instagrammed a story of his meeting with Penn, albeit keeping the sound muted.

Of course, this is not the first time Penn has gone and looked for trouble. He has been both lauded and criticized for putting himself at the center of debatable issues.

Back in 2015, he went and interviewed the drug lord Joaquín “El Chapo” Guzmán for an issue of Rolling Stone. The article did not go down well, and later Penn admitted that it failed because it was not able to spark a debate, in what he felt was America's role in the drug-related street violence.

Twitter is having a ball at Sean Penn's expense, along with AnnaLynne McCord, whose poem for Vladimir Putin did not go down the way she thought it would.

Here's one Twitter user airing their opinion.

There were other, more serious criticisms heading Sean Penn's way as well.

On the official Facebook account of the government of Ukraine, Sean Penn was lauded for being brave and courageous.

The official statement read, "Sean Penn demonstrates the courage that many others, especially western politicians lack. The more such people, true friends of Ukraine, who support the fight for freedom, the sooner it will be possible to stop the massive attack on Russia. The director has already arrived in Ukraine in November 2021. Within the framework of the preparation of the documentary, he visited the Priazov and talked with the Ukrainian military."

Twitter reaction borders on the sarcastic to the hilarious.