Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher have been leading efforts to support Ukraine. Recently, both appeared on CNN with Chris Wallace, where Kunis admitted that before the recent attacks in Ukraine, she had always just thought regarding (regarding their kids, who speak Russian), “it’s good for them to know another language. But I never thought, culturally speaking, it was important for them to know where they came from. Until this happened.”
Born in what is now Ukraine, Kunis immigrated to the United States with her parents in 1991. Even after moving to the U.S., Kunis grew up speaking her family’s native language — Russian — at home and still communicates with her parents in that language. When her and Ashton Kutcher later started their own family, she felt it important that their children grew to understand the language as well.
After Kunis, 38, and husband Ashton Kutcher, 44, spent time explaining this cultural piece of themselves to their kids (daughter Wyatt Isabelle, 7, and son Dimitri Portwood, 5), Kunis further explained that they now see the significance of understanding your roots and cultural heritage. “To have multiple cultures is a beautiful thing to have out there. We shouldn’t all be alike. We shouldn’t all think alike. That’s not the importance of community and growth.” Now more than ever, the couple is determined to ensure their kids understand precisely where they come from and what that means.
When asked what their plans are to help the people of Ukraine, Kutcher and Kunis acknowledged they would continue sending medical supplies and housing support using the funds they have been raising through a GoFundMe they have created to support Ukrainian citizens and refugees. The couple’s incredible efforts have raised over $35 million to date for Flexport.org and Airbnb.org. Kutcher reminded audiences that what people around the world can do is reach out to companies operating in Russia and urge them to leave. Kutcher added, “we are going to post an index of these companies, and we urge people to put the same pressure they’ve put on companies historically and encourage them to do the right thing. Especially when democracy is at stake.”
Kutcher’s final words resonate with the words of so many Ukrainian people and their supporters worldwide; “we are not going to stand down.”
