Mila Kunis shed more light on her feelings about Russia, and the government’s invasion into her home country of Ukraine during a new interview with Maria Shriver. The 38-year-old actress admitted that even as Russian forces attack Ukraine, she doesn’t want people think of Russian people as the “enemy.” While she didn’t name Russian President Vladimir Putin by name, she pointed to those in power as the root of the problem.
When Maria asked the Bad Moms actress what she wants people to know, she mentioned that she wanted to make sure that everyone knows that she doesn’t want people to assume that all Russians are “horrible” amid the conflict. “I don’t think that we need to consider the people of Russia an enemy. I do really want to emphasize that. I don’t think that that’s being said enough in the press,” she said. “I do encourage people to look at it from the perspective of, ‘It’s the people in power, not the people themselves.'”
Mila continued to point out that while the war in Ukraine may not have an immediate impact on the United States, it can grow to have a greater worldwide and economic effect. “Right now this issue can get incredibly catastrophic for the rest of the world – not just for that part of the world, and I don’t want people to lose sight of that,” she said.
In another clip released ahead of the interview, Mila also spoke about her Ukrainian heritage and how having grown up in the United States, she tended to feel more “American” than Ukrainian before the conflict, while having some friends and family still in Ukraine. She said that once the attacks happened, she was shocked by how heartbroken she was. “This happens and I can’t express or explain what came over me, but all of a sudden I was like, ‘Oh my God, I feel like a part of my heart just got ripped out,'” she said, before speaking about some of her friends that are still in the country.
Mila and her husband Ashton Kutcher have taken a strong stance to help Ukrainians struggling to defend their country, as well as refugees who are trying to escape. The couple launched a charitable initiative, and donated $3 million of their own to help aid Ukraine.