"Never forgive!": Lion King and The Hobbit actor killed defending Ukraine
A Ukrainian actor and TV host has died in the Russian invasion after quitting his job and joining the army to defend his country.
The 33-year-old signed up to Ukraine’s Territorial Defense Forces just last week, and died during Russian shelling in Irpin, northwest of Kyiv, on Sunday.
In his final post to Instagram, Lee shared a photo of himself smiling in his military uniform.
“For the last 48 hours there is an opportunity to sit down and take a picture of how we are being bombed, and we are smiling because we will manage and everything will be UKRAINE, WE ARE WORKING!” he wrote on Saturday.
In another post from two days prior, he shared another picture of himself and called on Ukrainians to “join” him in the war.
His post came as four civilians were killed, including a family of three, in the same city while attempting to flee Russian bombardment.
Lee was known for his roles in Ukrainian films #SelfieParty and The Fight Rules, and for contributing to Ukrainian dubs of The Hobbit and The Lion King.
Sergiy Tomilenko, a Ukrainian journalist and President of Ukraine’s National Union of Journalists, confirmed Lee’s death on social media and expressed “sincere condolences” for his family on behalf of the union.
“Our words of support to all the staff of the DOM channel [where Lee previously worked], which embodies the noble mission of broadcasting for the de-occupation of the Donetsk, Luhansk regions and Crimea,” Tomilenko wrote.
A former co-star, Anastasiya Kasilova, who appeared with Lee in one of his final projects, also paid tribute to him on Facebook.
“He is an actor, TV presenter, my colleague and a good acquaintance,” she wrote.
“Never forgive!”
Lee reportedly joined Ukraine’s armed forces on the first day of the Russian invasion and was stationed in Irpin.
Russia continued shelling Kyiv suburbs, including Irpin, over the weekend, resulting in the city being cut off from heating, electricity and water for three days.
Following Sunday’s attack, which saw a mother and two young children among the eight civilians killed as they attempted to flee, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky vowed to punish “every b***ard” who committed atrocities during the invasion.
“They were just trying to get out of town,” Zelensky said of the family who died.
“To escape. The whole family. How many such families have died in Ukraine?
“We will not forgive. We will not forget. We will punish everyone who committed atrocities in this war.”
Image: @pashaleeofficial (Instagram)