Arnold Schwarzenegger Makes Emotional Plea to Put an End to Russian Aggression

Hollywood icon and former statesman Arnold Schwarzenegger has a substantial global following, including many supporters in Russia, the country currently involved in the invasion of Ukraine. In a recent address on social media, Schwarzenegger made a heartfelt plea to the Russian populace, aiming to dispel the falsehoods spread by the Russian government regarding the conflict.

“I am reaching out to you today because there are events unfolding in the world that are being concealed from you, events of immense gravity that you deserve to be informed about,” Schwarzenegger emphasized.

“Ukraine did not provoke this war,” he affirmed. “Neither did nationalists or Nazis. The ones in authority in the Kremlin initiated this conflict. This is not the war of the Russian people.”

Although Russia currently has restricted access to Twitter, much of the information Schwarzenegger shared has managed to circulate on alternative social media platforms, such as Telegram, accessible to the Russian public. He implored any Russian soldiers encountering his appeal to recognize that “your lives, your limbs, your futures are being sacrificed for an unjustifiable war that is being denounced by the entire global community.”

The formal Twitter handle of the Russian president follows 22 other accounts — and one of them belongs to Arnold Schwarzenegger, who, in a video shared on Thursday, dismantled Russian propaganda surrounding the conflict in Ukraine and urged Putin to terminate the hostilities.https://t.co/O1kTCsoenr

— The New York Times (@nytimes) March 17, 2022

Coming from Austria originally, with a father who fought alongside the Nazis in World War II, Schwarzenegger confessed that witnessing this invasion has had a profound impact on him. He recounted how his father entered the war fueled by nationalist fervor, only to return completely shattered, a fate that may await many Russian soldiers once the invasion concludes.

Directly addressing Russian President Vladimir Putin, Schwarzenegger stated, “You instigated this conflict. You are at the helm of this war. You alone have the power to bring this war to a halt.”