Hollywood star Angelina Jolie’s trip to Ukraine descended into drama on Wednesday when her local driver was press-ganged into the military.
Jolie, a Unicef ambassador, was visiting the south of the country to meet with children impacted by the war, local media reported.
The celebrity was seen playing with a group of children in Kherson, a region attacked by Russian forces with drones and missiles on an almost daily basis.
It was her second trip to the country since it was invaded by Russia in February 2022.
The actor was seen wearing a bulletproof vest featuring a patch of the Legacy of War Foundation, a British non-profit helping civilians during war.
American actress and UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Angelina Jolie visited the city of Kherson, according to local Telegram channels. Suspilne and local outlet MOST also confirmed the visit.
— Hromadske Int. (@Hromadske) November 5, 2025
Jolie visited medical facilities, including a children's hospital and a maternity hospital. pic.twitter.com/gVTvdwKoG3
Politico quoted a senior Ukrainian official as saying that Jolie had not informed the government of her intention to visit and that she arrived on foot.
The trip caused a controversy when a local member of her entourage, reportedly a driver, was taken away by military recruiters, officials told the outlet.
The Ukrainian army confirmed that Jolie’s driver was drafted, only to later delete their brief statement. They also refused to confirm or deny the details of the incident.
“The information being spread in the media is distorted,” the statement said, “an investigation is currently underway and all the circumstances are being clarified.”
According to the regional military recruitment office in Mykolaiv, Jolie’s driver was a military reservist and was ordered to appear for military retraining, the report noted.
It wasn’t immediately clear if he was sent for retraining or asked to mark attendance at a later date.
Jolie has not shared any details of the trip on social media. The Independent has contacted the American actor’s representatives for comment.
In her previous visit to Ukraine in April 2022, just over a month after the Russian invasion, Jolie spoke with people displaced by the fighting in Lviv, including children undergoing treatment for injuries sustained in a missile attack on the Kramatorsk railway station earlier that month.
“She was very moved by their stories,” Lviv governor Maksym Kozytskyy said after the visit, referring to the children. “One girl was even able to privately tell Ms Jolie about a dream she’d had.”
Jolie, then a special envoy for the UN refugee agency, toured a boarding school, talked to students and took photos with them and promised to “come again”.
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