They may have broken up in 2018, but Hayden Panettiere is backing her ex-fiance, champion boxer Wladimir Klitschko, amid the crisis in his native Ukraine.
Klitschko’s brother Vitali Klitschko, also a former champion boxer, has served as the mayor of Kyiv since 2014, and both are standing strong against the Russian invasion.
Wladimir is also the father of Hayden’s seven-year-old daughter Kaya.
Hayden shared to her own Instagram Wladimir’s Instagram post from Thursday, in which the 45-year-old former star athlete said, “I am writing to you from Kyiv, the capital of a country at war, a country being attacked and invaded from all sides. It is not ‘the war of Ukraine,’ it is Putin’s war.”
Klitschko added, “Meticulous preparations were hidden behind the fog of the last few weeks in order to set in motion a plan that had been drawn up for months. No more fog and false diplomatic declarations.”
He also posted, “The world is watching how reckless and deadly imperialism is, not just for #Ukraine but the whole world. Let history be a lesson to not be repeated” — a message Hayden also reposted.
On Friday, the former Nashville actress Instagrammed her own message of support to the country. “I have personally witnessed the strength of the Ukrainian people who fought so hard for their independence and have continued to passionately defend their country over the years,” she said.
“What Putin is doing is an absolute disgrace!” Panettiere continued, saying, “This horrific moment in history sends a terrifying message…that…in year 2022, it’s okay to violate the rights of free people and allow autocrats like Putin to take whatever they please.”
“I’m praying for my family and friends there and everyone who’s fighting.”
In the comments section of the post, she noted that her daughter is “safe and not in Ukraine.”
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