Actress Mila Kunis Has Raised $37 Million for Ukraine Since the Beginning of the War

The war in Ukraine has ravaged the country for over 250 days now, creating one of the largest refugee crises in modern history. According to Filippo Grandi, the United Nations’ refugee chief, 14 million Ukrainians have been displaced from their homes, a fact made more worrisome given that a lot of them are about to face a harsh winter in extremely difficult circumstances. While people around the world have sprung into action to help, few people have been as involved in the cause as Ukrainian-born American actress Mila Kunis. That's why she has been named one of People’s 2022 People of the Year. The magazine honors her in its latest issue and reveals that she and husband Ashton Kutcher have raised $37 million towards refugee relief efforts.

In the early days of the war, Kunis and Kutcher launched a high-profile fundraiser on GoFundMe, titled Stand With Ukraine, and and pledged to match up to $3 million in donations. The campaign eventually surpassed its goal of $30 million and was even praised by Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, who was so moved by the support that he personally thanked Kunis and Kutcher for using their platform to raise money for Ukrainian refugees. “Ukrainians are proud and brave people who deserve our help in their time of need,” she wrote in the GoFundMe campaign.

The Ukraine war is a cause near and dear to Kunis' heart, who fled the European country at age 7 in 1991. Her family, which includes Holocaust survivors, grew increasingly concerned about anti-semitism, oppression, and lack of opportunities, so they packed up their things and moved to LA after she and her family got visas as religious refugees.

Looking back at her recent efforts, Kunis recalls that she didn't have time to overthink things. “Because I'm from Ukraine, I started getting calls from people who [wanted to help and] thought I knew the politics or had an understanding of NGOs [nongovernmental organizations] on the ground,” she told People. “That was my realization: If they don't know who to go to, how will anybody? There were problems we knew we could help solve. So Ashton and I said, ‘Okay, let's do this.' Within 24 hours, we had GoFundMe on board.”

Kunis also talks about how she has never been more proud to be from Ukraine, and how the mission continues for her. “We can't become desensitized,” Kunis says. “Helping—not even asking, just doing—should be our standard norm.”