Angelina Jolie was spotted on the streets of Lviv in western Ukraine on April 30, talking to fans in a coffee shop and meeting people displaced by the ongoing conflict with Russia.
Angelina Jolie has been a goodwill ambassador for the United Nations High Commission for refugees (UNHCR) for many years, but is said to have gone to Ukraine on a personal basis.
ITV reported that Angelina Jolie was seen signing in a coffee shop and meeting refugees at a train station. The actress's spokesperson added that she also visited orphans and children who had to be evacuated at a hospital.
Angelina Jolie and her accompanying group were sometimes seen fleeing when there were airstrike warnings, although no missile attacks were reported in Lviv on April 30. Located in western Ukraine, just 70 km from the Polish border, Lviv has not allowed the fierce fighting that occurred in eastern and southern Ukraine.
However, Russia has launched a number of missile attacks in the region. Earlier this month, a military facility in the city was attacked, and a training center for organizing foreign hunting duggles about 30 km away was attacked in March.
Although Angelina Jolie has worked with UNESCO for many years as a dispatcher, her spokesperson said the trip to Ukraine was a personal trip, focusing on understanding the needs of children. During the height of the Syrian civil war in 2013, Jolie also made a similar trip to meet Syrian refugees in Lebanon, and in 2018, met with displaced groups in Jordan and Iraq.
The Hollywood actress's visit to Lviv comes days after UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visited Kiev to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Russia launched a military campaign in Ukraine in late February, after accusing Kiev of failing to comply with the terms of the Minsk Agreement, first signed in 2014 and eventually recognized by Moscow for the self-proclaimed Donbass states of Donetsk and Lugansk. The Minsk Agreement, mediated by Germany and France, is designed to give breakaway regions special status in Ukraine.
The Kremlin has since asked Ukraine to officially declare itself a neutral state and never participate in the US-led NATO military bloc. Kiev has repeatedly denied the Russian attack was completely groundless and denied claiming to be planning to retake the two Donbass regions by force.
