Actor Mark Hamill has seen the fighting in Ukraine from afar and decided to pitch in and help. To that end he has put his hand in his pocket to send funds to buy 500 drones for Kyiv, destined to take on a variety of military and civil tasks against invading Russian forces he says represent the “evil empire.”
The 71-year-old American screen veteran, best known for his role as Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars franchise, confirmed his donations to the embattled European nation while appearing on an episode of Bloomberg Radio’s Sound On.
Hamill told host Joe Mathieu he only sent the equipment to Ukraine because they desperately need it, the Sun reports.
“Very simply: Ukraine needs drones. They define war outcomes, they protect their land, their people, they monitor the border, they’re eyes in the sky,” Hamill outlined in the radio interview published Thursday.
Ukrainian military forces lieutenant Anton Galyashinskiy holds a Parrot drone outside Kyiv, on July 14, 2022. Drones have become essential on the battlefield since the Russian invasion of Ukraine started, making it possible for Kyiv to conduct reconnaissance along the frontline, spotting Russian forces and equipment, and remotely directing artillery fire. (IONUT IORDACHESCU/AFP via Getty)
A drone operator from the field medicine division Hospitallers is seen preparing to launch a quadrocopter to search for the wounded on the battlefield. Field tests of THeMIS multi-purpose crawler drone of the Estonian company Milrem Robotics which will be used for evacuation purpose on the frontline of wounded soldiers by Medical battalion “Hospitallers”. (Mykhaylo Palinchak/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
“I was really shocked because they give me these updates at least two or three times a week about what’s going on and they said they’ve received over 500 drones since I started this,” Hamill concluded.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky announced last month Hamill had been named an ambassador for the country’s fundraising platform UNITED24’s “Army of Drones“ project.
“The new ambassador introduction took place during an online call with the President of Ukraine,” a Ukrainian government site states.
Mark Hamill, right, speaks as George Lucas, founder of Lucasfilm Ltd., left, and actor Billy Dee Williams lookat the unveiling of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge at Walt Disney Co.’s Disneyland theme park in Anaheim, California, U.S., on Wednesday, May 29, 2019. (Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty)
“Volodymyr Zelenskyy expressed his gratitude to Mark Hamill for supporting Ukrainian people since the beginning of the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine.”
So far, donations through UNITED24 have reached more than $210 million, enabling Ukraine to try and match Russia as it dispatches military drones of its own to the battlefield, as Breitbart News reported.
Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) are allegedly already on the ground in Ukraine training Russian forces in the use of the “kamikaze” drones.
An enemy drone flies over Kyiv during an attack on October 17, 2022, amid the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (SERGEI SUPINSKY/AFP via Getty Images)
“In this long and unequal fight, Ukraine needs continuous additional support,” Hamill said.
“That’s why I was honored President Zelenskyy asked me to become an ambassador for the Army of Drones. I know for certain that Ukrainians need drones to protect their land, their freedom and the values of the entire democratic world.
“Right now is the best time for everyone to come together and help Ukraine stand up in this war with the evil empire.”