President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy met with American actor Misha Collins, who visited Kyiv. The actor became an Ambassador of the UNITED24 fundraising platform in the area of humanitarian demining.
The Head of State thanked the actor for joining the team of ambassadors. He emphasized that helping Ukraine acquire demining machines is a big and difficult task, as this equipment is in short supply in the world and its production cycle is long.
"When we liberate our territories from the occupiers, we face many problems due to mined areas. Today we have more than 200 thousand square kilometers of mined areas. And we are experiencing a great shortage of equipment to cope with such a large territory," Volodymyr Zelenskyy said.
For his part, Misha Collins said that his friend, British journalist and photographer Giles Duley, once stepped on an explosive device in Afghanistan and lost both legs and an arm. So for him, helping with humanitarian demining is a personal issue.
Giles Duley, who also attended the meeting, added that his Legacy of War Foundation also raises funds for demining and has already become an official partner of the UNITED24 platform in the UK.
Misha Collins also noted that demining the territories where hostilities took place takes a long time. Sometimes it can take decades.
"Even if the war in Ukraine ends tomorrow, the legacy of the war will remain until the entire land is cleared of mines. Mine clearance is extremely important. Because children and families who go to the forest to pick mushrooms often suffer from explosive devices," he said.
Misha Collins emphasized that he was extremely encouraged to participate in this UNITED24 project.
"I feel that my role as an Ambassador is to spread the word and tell the story of what is happening in Ukraine to my audience around the world and to draw attention so that the world's support for Ukraine continues," the actor emphasized.
In addition to meeting with the President of Ukraine, he will visit Chernihiv region to see the work of Ukrainian sappers.
Misha Collins comes from a family originally from Kyiv region. The actor studied Ukrainian politics and history in college and has visited Ukraine several times. He has been actively supporting our country since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion. On the anniversary of the war, he recorded a video message for UNITED24 in Ukrainian.