Actor Pasha Lee Killed While Defending Ukraine Outside Kyiv

Ukrainian actor Pasha Lee was killed amid Russian shelling in the city of Irpin.

Lee appeared in the 2012 dramedy “Zvychayna Sprava,” 2016’s action-comedy “Selfie Party,” 2017’s sports-action film “The Fight Rules” and 2019’s “Meeting of Classmates.” He also served as a host on the DOM channel and had dubbing voice roles in “The Lion King” and “The Hobbit.” Lee had also appeared in the 2021 TV drama “Provincial.”

On Sunday, Lee was killed in the city of Irpin, which is located to the west of Kyiv, Ukraine. The TSN TV news service reported that the actor, who also went by the names Pavlo Li and Pasha Li, was 33. The city was under shelling by Russian forces who were occupying the city.

Lee is reported to have joined the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to help defend his country against the ongoing Russian invasion, which started in late February.

Only one day before his death, he shared a snap of him in his military gear. The caption, which has been translated into English, reads, ““For the last 48 hours there is an opportunity to sit down and take a picture of how we are being bombed, and we are smiling because we will manage and everything will be UKRAINE 🇺🇦 WE ARE WORKING !!!”

The suburbs of Kyiv, including Irpin, have been cut off from electricity, water, and heating for the past three days. At least four civilian casualties were a result of shelling near the bridge at Irpin as they attempted to flee the conflict, as per The New York Times.

Many citizens from all over the world have volunteered their services to help fight off the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The official Instagram of Ukraine showed off a photo of the International Legion of Defence of Ukraine, which included a group of volunteers from the United States, the U.K., Sweden, Lithuania, Mexico, and India in Kyiv.

“Since the beginning of the full-scale war on February 24, over 100,000 Ukrainians 🇺🇦 have joined the territorial defence all over Ukraine to defend big and small cities from Russia's occupants,” the caption read.

“Many opinion leaders, athletes, musicians have joined the defence forces 🪖 You've probably recognized Oleksandr Usyk @usykaa, Vasyl Lomachenko @lomachenkovasiliy, Serhii Stakhovskyi @stako_s, Oleh Sentsov @sentsovofficial, Akhtem Seitablaev @seitablaiev, Taras Topolia @tarastopolia, Fagot @fahot in the photos.”

They added, “Besides, up to 20,000 foreigners have already applied to join the International Legion of Defence of Ukraine to protect peace and security in the world side by side with Ukrainians 🌍”

On Monday, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine claimed that Russian military forces were directly targeting civilians.

“Russian are deliberately targeting civilians,” the post read. “Armed forces have destroyed or damaged 202 schools, 1500 residential buildings, 34 hospitals and left over 900 localities without electricity, water or heating.”

“Just some cases for today:

🛑 The Derhachi lyceum #3 in Kharkiv region was shelled. There is a casualty and several injured, including the children. The shellings continue.

🛑 An artillery strike on a Kharkiv supermarket killed four people and injured 15. Earlier reports only said about the injured.

🛑 In Chernihiv, rescuers are disassembling the destroyed school #18 and searching for people under the obstructions. At least, one dead man found to the moment.

🛑 Russian military opened fire on a peaceful protest in Nova Kakhovka on March 6 which killed one person, and injured seven, Kherson regional prosecutor's office reports.”

Despite the ongoing Russian invasion, Ukrainian citizens are doing all they can to defend their country. Take a look at some of the inspiring stories shared below.