Arnold Schawrznegger, pictured in Moscow in 1996. Photo / Getty
Arnold Schawrznegger, pictured in Moscow in 1996. Photo / Getty
Arnold Schwarzenegger has made a direct appeal to Russian President Vladimir Putin and the people of Russia to shed light on the "truth" about the invasion on Ukraine, describing it as a "humanitarian catastrophe".
In a video to social media the movie star took a different tact to others, sharing his love for Russia and the Russian people before making scathing comments against Putin and the Kremlin.
The 74-year-old, who describes himself as a "long-time friend" of the Russian people, took Putin head-on in a direct and confronting message.
"To President Putin, I say, you started this war. You are leading this war. You can stop this war."
In the 9-minute plea, he also asks Putin and the Kremlin: "Let me just ask you, why would you sacrifice those young men for your own ambitions?"
He followed it up with a message for the Russian people, telling them their government has lied to them about the reasons for going to war, who started it and what is really happening on the ground.
"No one likes to hear something critical of their government, I understand that, but as a long-time friend of the Russian people, I hope that you will hear what I have to say.
"I speak with the same heartfelt concern as I did with the American people when there was an attempted insurrection on January 6 last year, when a wild crowd was storming the US capitol trying to overthrow our government.
"I know that your government has told you that this is a war to denazify Ukraine. Denazify Ukraine? This is not true!
"Ukraine is a country with a Jewish president, a Jewish president I might add, whose father's three brothers were all murdered by the Nazis.
"You see, Ukraine did not start this war. Neither did nationalists or Nazis. Those in power in the Kremlin started this war. This is not the Russian people's war. No.
"As a matter of fact let me tell you, what you should know is that 141 nations at the UN voted that Russia was the aggressor.
"They called for it to remove its troops immediately. Only four countries in the entire world voted with Russia. That is a fact.
"See the world has turned against Russia because of its actions in Ukraine. Whole city blocks have been flattened by Russian artillery and bombs, including a children's hospital and a maternity hospital.
"Three million Ukrainian refugees, mainly women, children and elderly, fled their country. And many more are trying to seek to get out. It is a humanitarian crisis.
"Because of its brutality, Russia is now isolated from the society of nations. You're also not being told the truth about the consequences of this war on Russia itself.
"I regret to tell you that thousands of Russian soldiers have been killed.
"They have been caught between Ukrainians fighting for their homeland and the Russian leadership fighting for conquest.
Arnold Schawrznegger, pictured in Moscow in 1996. Photo / Getty
"Massive amounts of Russian equipment have been destroyed or abandoned. The destruction that Russian bombs are raining down upon innocent civilians has so outraged the world that the strongest global economic sanctions ever taken have been imposed on your country.
"Those who don't deserve it, on both sides of the war, will suffer.
"The Russian government has not only lied to its citizens but to its soldiers.
"Some of the soldiers were told they were going to fight Nazis. Some were told that the Ukrainian people would greet them like heroes.
"And some were told that they were simply going on exercises.
"They didn't even know that they were going into war.
"And some were told that they were there to protect ethnic Russians in Ukraine.
"None of this is true."
The former Governor of California also weighed in on his love for Russia and how he had admiration for them in his younger years.
The remains of a Russian rocket shot down by Ukrainian air defences slammed into a tower block in Kyiv early Thursday, leaving one person dead and wounding dozens of others. Photo / Getty
He opened up about his father who was part of the Nazi army in WWII, and asked Putin why he would sacrifice his own people for his own ambitions.
"When my father arrived in Leningrad, he was all pumped up on the lies of his government. And 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 have been speaking. You have seen it with your own eyes. I don't want you to be broken like my father.
"This is not the war to defend Russia, that your grandfathers or your great grandfathers fought, this is an illegal war.
"Your lives, your limbs, your futures, are being sacrificed for a senseless war condemned by the entire world.
"Now to those in power in the Kremlin, let me just ask you, why would you sacrifice those young men for your own ambitions?
"To the soldiers who are listening to this, remember that 11 million Russians have family connections to Ukraine, so every bullet you shoot, you shoot a brother or a sister.
"Every bomb or every shell that falls is falling not on an enemy, but on a school, or a hospital, or a home.
"I know the Russian people are not aware such things are happening so I urge the Russian people and Russian soldiers in Ukraine to understand the propaganda and the disinformation that you are being told. I ask you to help me spread the truth.
"Let your fellow Russians know the human catastrophe that is happening in Ukraine."
Schwarzenegger's video comes after a further bombardment of Ukrainian cities continues, with capital Kyiv having been struck by missiles in the early hours of this morning.
One missile was struck down, but the wreckage still hit a 16-storey block, killing one person and sparking fires, injuring dozens of others.
Mariupol, the heavily besieged city in the south of Ukraine, also continued to come under heavy fire as city officials estimated that at least 2400 people have now been killed there - though mayoral adviser Petro Andriushchenko said the true toll could be as high as 20,000 once cut-off areas have been searched for victims.
An estimated 28,000 Russian soldiers have been killed or wounded during the three weeks of fighting in Ukraine, as understood by US authorities.
