“Nothing special today. I’m in Lviv. Brought me a coffee. And there’s Angelina Jolie,” Ukrainian Maya Pidhorodetska writes on her Facebook account for a video that shows the Hollywood star entering a cafe. The actress signs autographs in casual gray pants and a loose-fitting wool sweater, as the Ukrainian filming quickly holds his coffee mug in front of the camera, on which is printed a quote from Ukrainian writer Ivan Franko, which speaks to the power of truth.
How much truth is behind these photos that circulated on social media over the weekend is sometimes difficult to determine. But the fact is that Jolie was traveling with her own team in the western Ukrainian city of Lemberg (Lviv) on Saturday. “This visit came as a surprise to all of us,” regional governor Maxim Kosyzki wrote on the Telegram online service.
Angelina Jolie visited volunteers and children in a hospital in Lemberg (Lviv). : Image: EPA
Photos and videos were shared on social media showing Jolie talking to volunteers providing psychological help to people who had fled to Lviv. In a video, Jolie talks to volunteers about trauma and expresses her appreciation for the volunteers’ work. Another shows her flirting with a little girl. Additional photos show the actress visiting children in a hospital. Additionally, Ukrainian media released a short video showing Jolie frantically leaving the train station, surrounded by her crew, as the airstrike sirens blared. When asked by a movie actor if she was scared, the actress responds with a calm “I’m fine”.
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After Sean Penn, Jolie is the second American filmmaker to visit Ukraine. The actress has been a United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) special envoy for over 20 years and has traveled to many crisis areas in this role. In March, she traveled to Yemen to raise awareness of the plight of refugee families as a UNHCR ambassador. However, the trip to Lemberg appears to have been a private initiative of the actress.