Angelina Jolie wants everyone to know she’s “okay.”
The actress is currently in war-torn Ukraine visiting refugees in the city of Lviv.
Russian forces continue to terrorize and rip apart Ukraine in hopes of regaining control of the independent country. They launched their attack on the country in February.
Angelina Jolie Makes A Visit To Ukraine
On Saturday, April 30, Jolie was flew in Lviv, Ukraine to meet with people who’ve been displaced by Russian forces.
Jolie is a special envoy for the United Nations refugee agency. She was meeting with volunteers who have been working with the displaced. They shared the realities of their ordeal with the actress.
According to Reuters, they revealed that each of the psychiatrists on duty spoke to about 15 people a day, and that many of those in the station are children aged between two and 10.
During her visit to Lviv, an air-raid siren went off and Jolie was whisked away by her aides and quickly bundled into a waiting car, presumably headed to a bunker.
She Met With Refugees In Lviv, Ukraine
The actress was videotaped waving at a camera before insisting, “I’m okay.”
Prior to the air-raid sirens sounding off, Jolie spoke to children undergoing treatment for injuries sustained in the missile strike on the Kramatorsk railway station in April according to Lviv’s regional governor Maksym Kozytsky.
In a social media post, Kozytsky wrote, “She was very moved by (the children´s) stories. One girl was even able to privately tell Ms. Jolie about a dream she’d had.”
Jolie also visited a boarding school and took pictures with the students. She promised them she’d come again.
Angelina Was Rushed To Safety Following Air-Ride Siren
Lviv is about 50 miles away from the Polish border where many Ukrainians have sought refuge.
Actor Sean Penn was among the millions who had to flee the war-torn country due to Russia’s invasion.
Penn said on Monday, February 28, that he left Ukraine on foot.
The actor explained that he and two colleagues had abandoned their car on the side of the road and walked miles to the Polish border.
Taking to Twitter he wrote, “Myself & two colleagues walked miles to the Polish border after abandoning our car on the side of the road. Almost all the cars in this photo carry women & children only, most without any sign of luggage, and a car their only possession of value.”
Myself & two colleagues walked miles to the Polish border after abandoning our car on the side of the road. Almost all the cars in this photo carry women & children only, most without any sign of luggage, and a car their only possession of value. pic.twitter.com/XSwCDgYVSH
— Sean Penn (@SeanPenn) February 28, 2022
The actor spoke in further depth about the entire experience of fleeing Ukraine for Poland.
“We had the luxury of being able to abandon a rented vehicle on the side of the road. This was a startling thing to me; it was mostly women and children, some in groups and some just a mother and her child, in almost all of those cars,” Penn explained.
He continued to detail how some men/fathers were dropping off the women and children before heading back into the country.
Sean Penn Fled Ukraine On Foot
“In some cases, the father was dropping them off and returning, because we know that from 18 to 60, men are not to leave, they’re to stay in the resistance against Russia,” Penn said. “I didn’t see any luggage. It was as though they wanted to believe they’re going to be able to come back, and there was an immediacy to leave because of the incredible amount of people leaving and how long it takes to get out of the country now.”
The award-winning actor said the car was really the only way to safety.
“So, the car is pretty much, aside from those who have family or friends that could help on the other side, all they have. So, in the several miles that we walked after abandoning our car, I didn’t see one of those cars move a car length because that line was so slow,” he detailed. “And then you get there and you see all those who have walked as well in that crowd.”
Penn explained that looking back he was glad to have had the experience.
