Ukraine: Arnold Schwarzenegger's trending anti-war videos on Russian social media

A video of Hollywood actor Arnold Schwarzenegger's speech to the Russian people trended on Russian Twitter on Friday sparked a backlash. In it, Schwarzenegger warned Russia that they were misinformed about their country's attack on Ukraine. Then, addressing Russian President Vladimir Putin directly, he said, "You started this war, and you can stop it."

His intervention was praised by Russians who opposed the war in Ukraine. Opposition politician Lev Schlossberg wrote in the Telegram app that it was filmed "about us Russian people." "Arnold Schwarzenegger has the unique ability to speak to everyone with confidence, respect, and equality.

 But the Kremlin's fake Twitter account, Barak Obmana, derided him, saying "the opinion of a paid US spokesman" means nothing to Russians.

Russia has repeatedly said the war in Ukraine is a "special operation" to protect Russian-speaking Ukrainians. But in his video, Schwarzenegger says the Kremlin lied to Russia when he said the invasion was aimed at "disinfecting" Ukraine. It was not Ukraine that started the war, but "the rulers of the Kremlin," he said.

"Ukraine did not start this war, neither nationalist nor Nazi," said the former governor of California, noting that President Vladimir Zelenskyy was Jewish. "This is not the Russian People's War. The Austrian-born former bodybuilding champion – whose first film 'Red Heat' was the first American film on Moscow's Red Square – talks about his commitment to the Russian people and being hit by Russian Olympic weightlifter Yuri a Vlasov-inspired young man.

He also talked about his father, who was part of the Nazi German army that invaded St. Petersburg - then called Leningrad - during World War II. He returns the "broken man," full of pain from the wounds he received during the fight and the guilt he took. He continued: "This is an illegal war. Your life, limbs, and future are sacrificed in this senseless war condemned by the whole world.