American actor Sean Penn presented one of his Oscars to Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, as an expression of his confidence in Kyiv's victory in its war with Moscow.
In a video posted to Zelenskyy's Instagram account, Ben, who was one of Ukraine's most prominent supporters in its war against the Russian invasion, took an Oscar statue out of the bag and placed it on a table in front of Zelenskyy, saying: “I feel terrible. This is for you. It’s just a symbolic silly thing, but if I know this is here with you then I’ll feel better and stronger for the fight.”
“When you win, bring it back to Malibu. I’ll feel much better knowing a piece of me is here," he added.The Ukrainian president is then seen giving Penn Ukraine’s Order of Merit, and the couple walked the streets of Kyiv and stopped at a plaque in the grounds dedicated to Penn.
After Penn expresses his gratitude Zelenskyy says: “We thank you very much.” In a caption to his Instagram video, Zelenskiy wrote: “Sean brought his Oscar statuette as a symbol of faith in the victory of our country. It will be in Ukraine until the end of the war,” adding: “Thank you for such sincere support and significant contribution to the popularisation of Ukraine in the world!”
Ben has won two Oscars for best actor, for Mystic River in 2003 and Milk in 2008.
The American actor was in Kyiv in February 2022 as Russia began its massive invasion of Ukraine and remained steadfast in his support for Zelenskyy.
In March, he said he would "smelt [his Oscars] in public" if the Ukrainian president was not allowed to speak at the Academy award ceremony; in the event, Zelenskyy did not appear but spoke about the Grammy Awards in the music industry.
In September, the Russian foreign minister said Penn was denied entry to Russia, along with more than 1,000 other US citizens, including Hillary Clinton, Ben Stiller, and Morgan Freeman, but not Donald Trump.
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