Mila Kunis has spoken out in defense of innocent Russian people amid the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.
The 38-year-old Black Swan star was famously born in the Ukrainian city of Chernivtsi, but moved with her family to the United States in 1991, when she was around eight years old.
However, after admitting that Russia's "special military operation" in Ukraine left her feeling like she had a part of her heart "ripped out", Kunis has told Maria Shriver that the Russian people are not the enemy.
Speaking on the digital series Conversations Above the Noise, Kunis told Shriver: "I don’t think that we need to consider the people of Russia an enemy."
Listen to Kunis' comments in the video below:The Family Guy star continued: "I do really want to emphasize that. I don’t think that that’s being said enough in the press. I think that there’s now, 'if you’re not with us, you’re against us' mentality. And I don’t want people to conflate the two problems that are happening.
"I don’t think it’s the people of Russia, and so I don’t want there to be a thing of, 'All Russians are horrible human beings'.
"I don’t want that to be the rhetoric, so I do encourage people to look at it from the perspective of, 'It’s the people in power, not the people themselves'."
The actor also urged people to continue following the invasion in the news, as "it's not stopping any time soon".
Elsewhere in the interview, Kunis revealed to Shriver that after moving to the US, she would tell people she was actually Russian, not Ukrainian.
Saying that she did so for "a multitude of reasons", Kunis explained: "One of them being when I came to the States and I would tell people I’m from Ukraine, the first question I’d get was, 'Where is Ukraine?'"
"And then I’d have to explain Ukraine and where it is on the map, and I was like 'Ugh, that’s exhausting,'" she added. "But if I was like, 'I’m from Russia,' people were like, 'Oh, we know that country.' So I was like, great, I’ll just tell people from Russia."
Last week, the actor launched a fundraiser alongside husband Ashton Kutcher, in order to raise money for Ukrainians in need.
Their GoFundMe has since surpassed $20 million from more than 61,000 donations, with Kunis and Kutcher donating $3 million of their own money.
On the fundraiser page, Kunis explained that she was a "proud Ukrainian", and explained that the money raised "will provide an immediate impact on refugee and humanitarian aid efforts. The fund will benefit Flexport.org and Airbnb.org, two organizations who are actively on the ground providing immediate help to those who need it most."
Additionally, if you would like to know how you can support the Ukrainian people at this time, click HERE to find a list of organizations and groups dedicated to helping those affected by this crisis.
