Mila Kunis says Russian people ‘aren’t the enemy’

‘Friends with Benefits’ star was born in Ukraine

Mila Kunis has called on the world not to blame the Russian people for the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.

Kunis, who was born in Ukraine, was talking to Maria Shriver on her digital series Conversations Above the Noise when she said: “I don’t think that we need to consider the people of Russia an enemy.”

The Bad Moms actor added: “I do really want to emphasise that. I don’t think that that’s being said enough in the press.”

She went on to explain: “I think that there’s now [an] ‘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.”

Kunis moved to the US with her parents aged seven. She was born in Chernivtsi in southern Ukraine.

“I don’t think it’s the people of Russia, so I don’t want there to be a thing of all Russians are horrible human beings,” she added. “I don’t want that to be the rhetoric. I do encourage people to look at it from the perspective of, it’s the people in power, not the people themselves.”

Last week, Kunis and her husband Ashton Kutcher began fundraising for Ukrainian refugees and have so far raised over £25m. The couple, who both starred on That ‘70s Show, pledged to match all donations up to £2.5m.

In a video appeal for the fundraiser, Kunis called the invasion of Ukraine an “unjust attack on humanity”.