'To the Russian soldiers listening... I don’t want you to be broken like my father'
Arnold Schwarzenegger has delivered a moving and emotional message to Russian troops as their invasion of Ukraine continues, warning them to not end up "broken" like his father.
On Thursday (March 17), the former governor of California shared a nine-minute video with English and Russian subtitles in which he urged Russian citizens and soldiers to ignore the fake news from their own government that says they are fighting in Ukraine to "denazify" the country.
The actor, 74, said: “The strength and the heart of the Russian people have always inspired me. That is why I hope that you will let me tell you the truth about the war in Ukraine and what is happening there.
“No one likes to hear something critical of their government, I understand that. But as a longtime friend of the Russian people, I hope that you will hear what I have to say.”
The star goes on to tell a story about his childhood admiration for Yuri Petrovich Vlasov, a champion weightlifter from Russia who inspired him to get into the world of competitive bodybuilding.
He recalled how his father Gustav Schwarzenegger, a member of the Nazi party who was injured fighting for the Nazis at Leningrad in World War II, told him to take down a poster he had of Vlasov and replace it with a "German or Austrian hero."
He said: “But I did not take down the photograph, because it didn’t matter to me what flag Yuri Vlasov carried.”
https://twitter.com/Schwarzenegger/status/1504426844199669762
Schwarzenegger continued: “[My father] was injured at Leningrad and the Nazi army he was part of did vicious harm to the great city and to its brave people.
“When my father arrived in Leningrad, he was all pumped up on the lies of his government…
“When he left Leningrad, he was broken – physically and mentally. He lived the rest of his life in pain. Pain from a broken back, pain from the shrapnel that always reminded him of those terrible years and pain from the guilt that he felt.
“To the Russian soldiers listening to this broadcast, you already know much of the truth that I’m speaking. You’ve seen it in your own eyes. I don’t want you to be broken like my father.”
Schwarzenegger's moving message comes after a
chilling address from Vladimir Putin earlier this week, in which he said he would root out the "scum and traitors" in Russian society.
In a speech on Wednesday, the Russian leader said: "Any people, and particularly the Russian people, will always be able to tell apart the patriots from the scum and traitors and spit them out like a fly that accidentally flew into their mouths.
"I am convinced that this natural and necessary self-cleansing of society will only strengthen our country, our solidarity, cohesion, and readiness to meet any challenge."
https://twitter.com/just_whatever/status/1504144895501557762?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1504144895501557762%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.joe.co.uk%2Fnews%2Frussia-bomb-theatre-sheltering-1200-despite-children-written-outside-following-chilling-message-323574
Putin went on to launch a bizarre attack on those who "can’t get by without oysters or foie gras or so-called ‘gender freedoms," saying they "mentally exist there, and not here, with our people, with Russia."
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