Arnold Schwarzenegger makes a direct appeal to Russians being lied to about Ukraine: 'Your futures are being sacrificed for a senseless war'

• Arnold Schwarzenegger made a direct appeal to Russian people and soldiers.
• He said they were being lied to about the war in Ukraine much as the Nazis lied to his father.

Former California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger made a direct appeal to Russian people and soldiers on Thursday, detailing the lies behind the Kremlin's propaganda for the war in Ukraine.

"Your lives, your limbs, and your futures are being sacrificed for a senseless war condemned by the entire world," Schwarzenegger said in a video published by Attn.

The Kremlin has taken actions to silence dissent and critical reporting about the invasion. It is now illegal to even call the conflict a war, and Russia has moved to block access to social media.

But Russians have long had familial ties to Ukraine, Schwarzenegger added. An estimated 11 million Russians have family in Ukraine.

"So every bullet you shoot, you shoot a brother or a sister," he said. "Every bomb or every shell that falls is falling not on an enemy but on a school or hospital or a home."

Schwarzenegger said he knew how lies about war could break a man. He described how his father, Gustav Schwarzenegger, lived with the guilt of fighting for the Nazis in World War II.

"He lived the rest of his life in pain," Schwarzenegger said. "Pain from a broken back. Pain from the shrapnel that always reminded him of those terrible years. And pain from the guilt that he felt."

Schwarzenegger, a well-known movie star, said he was inspired early in his life by the Russian weightlifter Yury Vlasov. Like Schwarzenegger, Vlasov went on to become a politician.

Schwarzenegger started his career as a world-class weightlifter. The "Terminator" star said his love for Russia only grew, including during the filming of "Red Heat," the first American movie to film in Moscow's Red Square.

"The strength and the heart of the Russian people have always inspired me," Schwarzenegger said, describing himself as a "longtime friend of the Russian people."

Schwarzenegger said he had also spoken out about lies in the US, pointing to his condemnation of the Capitol insurrection on January 6, 2021.

The action star closed by addressing Russians who were risking severe penalties for speaking out about the war. Some protesters have even taken to the streets in St. Petersburg, Russian leader Vladimir Putin's hometown.

"You are my new heroes," Schwarzenegger said. "You have the strength of Yury Petrovich Vlasov. You have the true heart of the Russian people."