Hollywood star and humanitarian Angelina Jolie surprised the residents and athletes of the heavily shelled Ukrainian city of Kharkiv recently when she suddenly turned up at a boxing club. Ukraine's boxing federation and the club's owner informed about the visit on Monday, releasing a picture of Angelina and her son, Knox, interacting with the athletes at the club.
Angelina Jolie visits boxing club in Ukraine
The film star, who in the past served as a UN special envoy for refugees, had visited the war-torn country at least twice since Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022. A photo posted by the Boxing Federation of Ukraine shows her and her son, Knox, posing at a boxing gym.
On Monday, the federation shared the picture on Instagram, writing alongside it: “The famous actress Angelina Jolie visited the Spadkoyemets boxing club in Kharkiv.” The caption further read, “Her son Knox, together with Ukrainian defenders, held a Muay Thai training session at the club.”
The second-largest city in Ukraine, Kharkiv lies close to the border with Russia, whose forces have pummelled the city with artillery since the start of the invasion in early 2022. It is a daily target for Russian drone and missile attacks.
Angelina's visit to the boxing club was a surprise even for its administration. In a video posted on Instagram, the Spadkoyemets club's owner, Pavlo Chyshko, said he had "had no idea" he would be meeting with Jolie after he received a gym booking for Sunday.
{{/usCountry}}Angelina's visit to the boxing club was a surprise even for its administration. In a video posted on Instagram, the Spadkoyemets club's owner, Pavlo Chyshko, said he had "had no idea" he would be meeting with Jolie after he received a gym booking for Sunday.
{{/usCountry}}“To everyone who asked me -- this is not a joke, not AI. It just happened completely by chance: Angelina Jolie, to our great delight, dropped by our gym,” he said in a video posted on Instagram. “She complimented us, said she liked our gym, and we thanked her. She asked my son how long he'd been doing sports. That's real class. And her son is just the same. He shook hands, back and forth. It was really cool!”
Angelina Jolie's new film
The 51-year-old Oscar winner wrote and directed Without Blood, a war drama starring Salma Hayek and Demian Bichir, based on Alessandro Baricco's novel of the same name.
As per Radar Online, Angelina has said that her film is for people seeking “answers and healing after trauma,” themes that insiders say come after years of highly publicised legal and family battles following the breakdown of her marriage to Brad Pitt. After its world premiere at the 2024 Toronto International Film Festival, it will release in theatres on September 18.