Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher have helped raise over £13m for Ukrainian refugees

The couple started their fundraiser five days ago

Mila Kunis and Ashton Kutcher have raised over £13m to aid victims of the Russia-Ukraine conflict.

Last week, the married couple announced that they will match donations of up to $3m (£2.5m) to help supply humanitarian aid to Ukrainian refugees.

In a video appeal, Kunis, who was born in Chernivtsi, Ukraine, said there was “no place in this world for this kind of unjust attack on humanity”.

“I have always considered myself an American, a proud American. I love everything this country has done for myself and my family,” she said. “But today I have never been more proud to be a Ukrainian. The events that have unfolded in Ukraine are devastating. There is no place in this world for this kind of unjust attack on humanity.”

Kutcher said: “While we witness the bravery of the people in the country she was born in, we’re also witness to the needs of those who have chosen safety.”

The Two And A Half Men star added that “logistics” was the principal challenge, getting housing and supplies into the area.

The couple said they would match donations made to rental company AirBnB and freight transporter Flexport, with the aim of raising $30m (£25.5m).

Just three hours after going live, the page had raised more than $2.5m (£2.08m), thanks to an offline donation from the Ron Conway Family.

Almost five days after their initial announcement, Kunis and Kutcher have managed to raise over $18m (£13m) for people in need.

Vladimir Putin declared war on Ukraine on 24 February, describing it as a “special military operation” to disarm the eastern European country and remove leaders who he described as neo-Nazis. Nato and its allies see this as a pretext for an invasion to conquer the entire of Ukraine and install a pro-Russian administration.

The war in Ukraine has forced over two million residents to flee the country, and hundreds have either died or have been injured. This is the fastest exodus of people Europe has seen since the Second World War, officials have said, warning that the war could displace nearly five million people.

Russia has promised to allow five humanitarian corridors to be formed to let people flee major cities under attack by Putin’s forces. The firing of weapons in Ukraine will stop from 7am GMT (10am Moscow time) on Wednesday, according to Russian news agency Tass. The corridors will lead out of Kyiv, Chernihiv, Sumy, Kharkiv, and Mariupol.

The Independent has a proud history of campaigning for the rights of the most vulnerable, and we first ran our Refugees Welcome campaign during the war in Syria in 2015. Now, as we renew our campaign and launch this petition in the wake of the unfolding Ukrainian crisis, we are calling on the government to go further and faster to ensure help is delivered.

Article Credits: Independent