Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie visited the Ukrainian city of Lviv on Saturday, going to the station to meet people displaced by the war with Russia before later leaving after air-raid sirens sounded.
Jolie, 46, is a special envoy for the United Nations refugee agency, which says more than 12.7 million people have fled their homes in the past two months, which represents around 30% of Ukraine’s pre-war population.
Angelina Jolie, Hollywood movie star and UNHCR goodwill ambassador, poses for photo with her fans in Lviv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 30, 2022. Ms Jolie was in Ukraine to meet the children affected by the war and visited hospitals and NGOs helping the injured and displaced.
(AP Photo/VEduard Tomilchenko)
During the visit to the station, Jolie met volunteers working with the displaced, who told her that each of the psychiatrists on duty spoke to about 15 people a day. Many of those in the station are children aged from two to 10, according to volunteers.
“They must be in shock … I know how trauma affects children, I know just having somebody show how much they matter, how much their voices matter, I know how healing that is for them,” she said in reply.
Angelina Jolie, Hollywood movie star and UNHCR goodwill ambassador, poses for photo with her fans in Lviv, Ukraine, Saturday, April 30, 2022. Ms Jolie was in Ukraine to meet the children affected by the war and visited hospitals and NGOs helping the injured and displaced.
(AP Photo/Valeria Sergeeva)
At one point during her visit to the station, she tickled a small girl dressed in red, who laughed out in delight. She also posed for photos with the volunteers and some of the children.
Later on, air-raid sirens started to sound, and Jolie together with her aides walked quickly out of the station and got into a waiting car.
Last month, in her role as special envoy, Jolie visited Yemen, where millions of people have been displaced by war.
(Reporting by Reuters, writing by David Ljunggren)