In a video shared on Kutcher’s Instagram, the couple thanked supporters for their donations. “Over 65,000 of you have donated,” Kunis said. “We are overwhelmed with gratitude for the support.” She noted that while the donations will not solve the crisis, “our combined effort will allow so many people a softer landing as they move into their future of uncertainty.”
“We will do everything we can to ensure that the love shown by all of you as part of this campaign has the greatest impact on those in need,” added Kutcher. “As funds continue to come in, we will treat every dollar as if it was donated from our pocket.”
The International Organization for Migration says that since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine began in late February, over 3 million refugees have fled the country, including at least 1.5 million children. Many of them have found refuge in neighboring countries, including Romania, Moldova and Poland. And 6.48 million people have been internally displaced and forced to flee their homes to seek shelter elsewhere in the country.
As of early Sunday, more than $34 million had been raised through 69,300 individual donations, according to the GoFundMe page.
Kunis herself is a “proud Ukrainian”. On the couple’s GoFundMe, she explained that she was born in Chernivtsi, a city in southwestern Ukraine, in 1983 and her family left for the United States eight years later.
“Ukrainians are proud and courageous people who deserve our help in times of need,” she wrote. “This unjust attack on Ukraine and humanity at large is devastating and the Ukrainian people need our support.”
Donations to GoFundMe go to two organizations: freight transport company Flexport, which organizes aid shipments to refugee camps in Poland, Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Moldova, and Airbnb, which provides free short-term housing to refugees from Ukraine. Kunis and Kutcher join other stars including Blake Lively and Ryan Reynolds, who have also pledged to match donations to help Ukrainian refugees, and Gigi Hadid, who donated her Fashion Month earnings to aid efforts in Ukraine.