Ukrainian actor Pasha Lee was killed in action on Sunday, March 6, a week after enlisting in the Ukraine army’s Territorial Defence Forces.
Lee was killed from shelling in Irpin by Russian forces occupying the city located west of Kyiv, according to Odesa International Film Festival.
The actor is said to have joined the armed forces last week to defend his country during the ongoing invasion.
On Saturday, Lee shared pictures of himself in military uniform on his Instagram page.
One had the caption "Let’s unite", while the other featured the words: "For the last 48 hours there is an opportunity to sit down and take a picture of how we are being bombed, and we are smiling because we will manage and everything will be UKRAINE… WE ARE WORKING !!!" (translated).
Lee worked as an actor, TV host, and composer. He was 33-years-old.
"Pasha Lee was a well-known Ukrainian film and dubbing actor, singer, and composer. He played in the theater "Koleso", starred in films and commercials. Among his works in cinema are the films "Shtolnya" (2006) and "Shadows of Unforgotten Ancestors" (2013) by Lyubomyr Levytsky, "Zvychayna sprava" by Valentyn Vasyanovych (2012), "The Fight Rules" by Oleksey Shaparev (2016), "Meeting of classmates" by Valentyn Shpakov (2019) and others," the Odesa International Film Festival wrote on Facebook.
"We call on the world community to help Ukraine in the fight against Russia and stop the war. We urge you to close the sky over Ukraine immediately and continue to boycott Russian cinema," the statement read.
Ukrainian actor Anastasiya Kasilova, who worked with Lee on the crime TV show "Provincial", took to Facebook to mourn Lee’s death.
She wrote: "He is an actor, TV presenter, my colleague, and a good acquaintance… Never forgive!"
Another Ukrainian actor's life was also turned upside down when invaders attacked their beloved country.
Roman Matsiyta, a 45-year-old actor-musician, was compelled to swap his paintbrush for a rifle, he said.
"I woke up to the sound of explosions, and everyone knew it had begun, and I was ready to fight," Matsiyta said of the Russian invasion of his country.
"Immediately, I went out to find out how I could sign up to fight."
"There were many people like myself trying to be useful somehow or somewhere. After several days, we were accepted into the Territorial Defenses. We received our weapons and went forth to support however we could."
"I have acted in the movies many times, in war movies as a soldier, a character in the wars. But I never thought I would be acting like this in real life," Matsiyta said. "Our military needs all of us."
"Everyone is participating in this war. Normal people throw Molotov cocktails, cook food, support those out in the cold," Matsiyta said. "Our job is to maintain public order and help citizens not panic. We don’t want anything that will hinder the operations of our professional military."
"Everyone is taking arms. We will not let the enemy get into Kyiv."
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