Mar 8: Hollywood star Leonardo DiCaprio has donated $10 million to support Ukraine, which is fighting against Russia.
On the backdrop of this huge donation, the “Titanic” fame DiCaprio also has a personal motive. The actor’s maternal grandmother, Helene Indenbirken, was born in Odessa as Jelena Stepanovna Smirnova, reports polishnews.co.uk. In 1917, she emigrated from there with her parents to Germany, where DiCaprio’s mother was born.
Raised mainly by his mother, DiCaprio was also very close to his grandmother, who was a supporter of his career from the beginning. His grandmother, who died in 2008 at the age of 93, almost until the end appeared with her grandson and daughter at the premieres of his films.
DiCaprio allocated as much as USD 10 million to support Ukraine and did not plan to announce it to the whole world.
The information was announced by the International Visegrad Fund — a project of the Visegrad Group aimed at financial support for international initiatives.
Six-time Oscar-nominated actor and producer, winner of an Academy Award for his role in Alejandro Gonzalez Inarritu’s ‘Revenant’, DiCaprio has been writing “actor and ecologist” in the profession column for years.
The artist has long been involved in initiatives devoted to combating the climate catastrophe. Already in 1998, as a 25-year-old, he founded the Leonardo DiCaprio Foundation with his family, supporting “sustainable development around the world”.
Several actors and directors have expressed their solidarity with Ukraine. Robert De Niro said during a meeting at Cambridge University that everything must be done to stop Russian aggression. Ryan Reynolds and Blake Lively have taken part in a fundraiser for Ukraine and pledge to double each amount donated.
Kyiv-born Mila Jovovich, who has Ukrainian and Russian roots, is horrified by the situation in Ukraine and, as she herself admitted, is torn in two. Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher said in a video posted on Friday that they intend to support humanitarian activities in Ukraine. Kunis and Kutcher plan to donate USD 3 million. The goal is to raise USD 30 million.
