The veteran actor, Arnold Schwarzenegger has made a direct appeal to the Russian President, Putin to stop the killings of Ukraine and embrace peace. The actor stressed that Russians should reveal the truth and seek for a way to end the invasion.
Describing it as a ‘humanitarian catastrophe’, Schwarzenegger said that he is a good friend of the Russian People and wouldn’t want the war to go on.
The Austrian-American made this known in a viral nine-minute video post on his Instagram – the clip had more than 250,000 views on Instagram and 120,000 on Facebook, in an hour.
Many comments speaks of gratitude and commend the actor for airing his voice and condemning the rash war led by Putin.
Giving a direct message to Putin, he said: “To President Putin, I say, you started this war. You are leading this war. You can stop this war.”
He also asks Putin and his Kremlin counterparts: ‘Let me just ask you, why would you sacrifice those young men for your own ambitions?’
Meanwhile, Pentagon estimates that not less than 7,000 Russian troops have been killed with 14k-21k being injured. This is a fifth of the 150k troops Putin send to attack Ukraine three weeks ago.
Arnold Schwarzenegger said:
“No one likes to hear something critical of their government, I understand that, but as a long-time friend of the Russian people, I hope that you will hear what I have to say.”
“I speak with the same heartfelt concern as I did with the American people when there was an attempted insurrection on January 6 last year, when a wild crowd was sroming the US capiotpl trying to overthrow our government.”
“‘I know that your government has told you that this is a war to denazify Ukraine. Denazify Ukraine? This is not true!”
‘”Ukraine is a country with a Jewish president, a Jewish president I might add, whose father’s three brothers were all murdered by the Nazis.”
“‘You see, Ukraine did not start this war. Neither did nationalists or Nazis. Those in power in the Kremlin started this war. This is not the Russian people’s war. No.”
“‘As a matter of fact let me tell you, what you should know is that 141 nations at the UN voted that Russia was the aggressor.
‘They called for it to remove its troops immediately. Only four countries in the entire world voted with Russia. That is a fact.”
“See the world has turned against Russia because of its actions in Ukraine. Whole city blocks have been flattened by Russian artillery and bombs, including a children’s hospital and a maternity hospital.”
“Three million Ukrainian refugees, mainly women, children and elderly, fled their country. And many more are trying to seek to get out. It is a humanitarian crisis.”
“Because of its brutality, Russia is now isolated from the society of antions. You’re also not being told the truth about the consequences of this war on Russia itself.”
“I regret to tell you that thousands of Russian soldiers have been killed. They have been caught between Ukrainians fighting for their homeland and the Russian leadership fighting for conquest.”
“Massive amounts of Russian equipment have been destroyed or abandoned. The destruction that Russian bombs are raining down upon innocent civilians has so outraged the world that the strongest global economic sanctions ever taken have been imposed on your country.”
‘Those who don’t deserve it, on both sides of the war, will suffer.”
“The Russian government has not only lied to its citizens but to its soldiers.”
“Some of the soldiers were told they were going to fight Nazis. Some were told that the Ukrainian people would greet them like heroes.”
“And aome were told that they were simply going on exercises.”
“They didn’t even know that they were going into war.”
“And some were told that they were there to protect ethnic Russians in Ukraine.”
“None of this is true.”
The Austrian-American also took the opportunity to express the love he has for Russia and highlighted the important role the country played in his childhood days.
He also said that his father was a member of the Nazi army during World War II and used the opportunity to question Putin’s selfish ambitions.
“When my father arrived in Leningrad, he was all pumped up on the lies of his government,’ Schwarzenegger said. ‘And when he left Leningrad, he was broken, physically and mentally.”
“He lived the rest of his life in pain. Pain from a broken back, pain from the shrapnel that always reminded him of those terrible years, and pain from the guilt that he felt.”
“To the Russian soldiers listening to this broadcast, you already know much of the truth that I have been speaking. You have seen it with your own eyes. I don’t want you to be broken like my father.”
“This is not the war to defend Russia, that your grandfathers or your great grandfathers fought, this is an illegal war.”
“Your lives, your limbs, your futures, are being sacrificed for a senseless war condemned by the entire world.
‘Now to those in power in the Kremlin, let me just ask you, why would you sacrifice those young men for your own ambitions?”
“To the soldiers who are listening to this, remember that 11 million Russians have family connections to Ukraine, so every bullet you shoot, you shoot a brother or a sister.”
“Every bomb or every shell that falls is falling not on an enemy, but on a school, or a hospital, or a home.”
“I know the Russian people are not aware such things are happening so I urge the Russian people and Russian soldiers in Ukraine to understand the propaganda and the disinformation that you are being told. I ask you to help me spread the truth.”
“Let your fellow Russians know the human catastrophe that is happening in Ukraine.”
The actor via the video said that that he wants his Russian friends to know the Real Truth behind the ‘terrible things’ being kept from them by the Kremlin.
“My connections to Russia didn’t stop there,’ he explained, noting that it deepened when he travelled there for bodybuilding competitions and on-set for his latest films, where he got to meet all his Russian fans”
“Now the reason why I am telling you all of those things is because ever since I was 14 years old, I’ve had nothing but affection and respect for the people of Russia.”
“The strength and the heart of the Russian people have always inspired me and that is why I hope that you will let me tell you the truth about the war in Ukraine and what is happening there.”
Furthermore, the most affected city in the ongoing war is Mariupol. Located in Southern Ukraine, the city have continued to come under strong attacks – official statistics has that not less than 2,500 have died. Even so, the mayoral adviser Petro Andriushchenko added that “it could rise up to 20,000 once cut-off areas have been searched for victims.”
Despite no end being in sight, this war have broken records so far. The enormous toll is
Approximately twice that of NATO casualties in Afghanistan over two decades of warfare.
It also almost equal to US fatalities in the 36-day battle of Iwo Jima – This was a highly bloodstained assault in the Pacific during the Second World War.