A surprise visit to Ukraine by actress and humanitarian Angelina Jolie drew scrutiny of her companions, with multiple sources claiming a member of her entourage was unexpectedly drafted into to the Ukrainian military.
The Tomb Raider star, traveling in her role as a UNICEF ambassador, visited the city of Kherson on the front line of Ukraine’s defense against Russia on Tuesday.
It was her second time in Ukraine since Russia’s full-scale invasion in 2022. She previously visited the city of Lviv.
A top Ukrainian official told POLITICO that a member of Jolie’s traveling party had an incident with local military recruiters at a checkpoint, but that the Ukrainian authorities are still trying to figure out what has exactly happened. The official also told POLITICO that Jolie had not informed the Ukrainian government about her intention to visit the country, and that she entered on foot.
Separately, the Ukrainian Army Land Forces shared a four-paragraph statement offering numerous details of the incident, including that the person drafted was Jolie’s driver, but later deleted their statement and told POLITICO they could neither confirm or deny details of what happened.
They did say: “The information being spread in the media is distorted, an investigation is currently underway and all the circumstances are being clarified.”
The regional military recruitment offiсe in Mykolaiv confirmed the incident to POLITICO, saying that Jolie’s driver was a military reservist and was ordered to come to military retraining.
A representative for Jolie declined to comment on the record.
Local news outlet Nikvesti published video of Jolie in the Mykolaiv region, and speculation around the incident was rampant on social media on Wednesday.
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