Hayden Panettiere has shared rare support for her ex-partner Wladimir Klitschkoas he joins front lines for Ukraine amid the Russian invasion. The actress and Hall of Fame boxer Wladimir became engaged in 2013 and welcomed their daughter in 2014 but later split.
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Wladimir has custody of their daughter, Kaya, and Hayden confirmed on Friday that their seven-year-old is "safe and not in Ukraine" after a fan asked. "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," the actress wrote in the caption, which showed a picture of her and Wladimir meeting Ukrainians in the country.
WATCH: Kyiv's mayor Vitali Klitschko says he is 'ready to fight'
"This horrific moment in history sends a terrifying message: the message that in this day and age, in year 2022, it's okay to violate the rights of free people and allow autocrats like Putin to take whatever they please," she continued.
"I'm praying for my family and friends there and everyone who's fighting. I wish you had more support and I wish I was there fighting with you!"
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Amid the news that Wladimir and his brother Vitali - the mayor of Ukraine's capital Kyiv - would be joining the front lines for Ukraine, Hayden showed her support for the 45-year-old, sharing a post of Wladimir's in which he called the war "Putin's war".
"The Russian president is using war rhetoric in the purest Bolshevik tradition and is rewriting history to justify his redivision of borders," he wrote. "He makes it clear that he wants to destroy the Ukrainian state and the sovereignty of its people. Words are followed by missiles and tanks. Destruction and death come upon us. That's it, blood will mix with tears,"
Hayden reposted Wladimir's story
She also reposted a message from the athlete which read: "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."
Vitali, also a former heavyweight boxing champion, known as 'Dr Ironfist', later shared that he was prepared to fight during a conversation with ITV's Good Morning Britain.
"It's already a bloody war," he said.
"I don't have another choice. I have to do that. I would fight. I believe in Ukraine, I believe in my country and I believe in my people."
The brothers at a recruitment center
Ukraine declared independence from the laws of the USSR in 1991.
In recent years, Russian president Putin has called Russians and Ukrainians as "one nation", and has demanded the country's government decline any invitation to join NATO.
Putin has frequently accused Ukraine of being a puppet state, controlled by the West after pro-Russian president Viktor Yanukovych was ousted in 2014.
Vitali has also said he will fight for his country
Russia retaliated at the time by seizing the southern region of Crimea and triggering a rebellion in the east by Russian-backed separatists.
In the last 48 hours Putin has attacked airports and military headquarters, as tanks and troops rolled into major cities from neighboring Belarus, and the port cities of Odessa and Mariupol.
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