He sacrificed himself to try and save another
The Hobbit actor Pasha Lee’s body has been recovered after being reported as killed during the shelling of Irpin on March 6.
According to the head of Ukraine‘s Center for Civil Liberties, Oleksandra Matviichuk, the 34-year-old actor reportedly lost his life after giving his bulletproof vest to a child as the civilians evacuated the northern city.
Yaroslav Bevzyuk: We found the body of our Pasha Lee. He helped the children get out of the house during the evacuation of people from Irpen. The evacuation that Russians disrupted by shelling civilians. Pasha took off his bulletproof vest and put it on the child he was carrying pic.twitter.com/iDjfKTy4Jc
— Oleksandra Matviichuk (@avalaina) March 13, 2022
As Matviichuk writes, Lee was one of many volunteers who “helped children get out of the house during the evacuation of people from Irpin” as Russian forces reportedly targeted civilians with airstrikes.
As she goes on to explain, the actor – best known for Meeting Of Classmates and lending his voice to dubbed versions of The Hobbit, The Lion King and many others – was carrying a child to safety when he gave them his bulletproof vest. While it is unclear whether the child in question lived, we can only admire his bravery and sacrifice.
https://www.instagram.com/p/CakIYNVNZea/
The Ukrainian actor is thought to have only enlisted in the Territorial Defence Forces for his country a week or so prior to the Russian shelling that levelled large sections of the city of Irpin.
The latest from the region suggests that Russian forces continue to barrage the city and as well as destroying a key bridge refugees would be hoping to use while escaping, it is thought that American journalist Brent Renaud was also killed on Sunday.
It is estimated that more than 1,300 Ukrainian soldiers have died in the conflict alone and, as of Sunday, at least 636 civilians casualties are said to have been suffered, with more than 1,125 injured.
Related links:
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- Homes Under The Hammer star takes dramatic journey to Poland to deliver supplies to Ukrainian refugees
