Russian actor of the stage and screen Anatoliy Pashinin is now fighting for Ukraine in the Donbas, journalist Andriy Tsaplienko said in a post on social media on Aug. 24.
“I’ve never thought I’d be celebrating Independence Day alongside a person from the enemy trenches,” the journalist wrote on his Facebook page. “A Russian movie star… and now a fighter of the 8th battalion of the Ukrainian Volunteer Army for the past month, Anatoliy Pashinin, celebrated the holiday with his brothers-in-arms at the frontline.”
Pashinin, 38, was born in the Ukrainian city of Svitlovodsk, and moved to Moscow to study acting. In 2006, he became famous as main character in the television series “Stormgates” (Grozovye Vorota in Russian), which told the story of a Russian airborne company that was almost completely wiped out by Chechen rebel fighters during the Second Chechen War in Russia.
In the series, well known in Ukraine as well as in Russia, Pashinin played the role of the company’s commander, who, while suffering from a family tragedy, shows heroism in saving his men. After that role, the actor went on to appear in other top Russian television series, movies, and stage shows.
Pashinin supported the Euromaidan Revolution in Kyiv, and while it was going on, he moved to Zaporizhia, where he has relatives, and made several videos in support of Ukraine.
After Russia unleashed war in Ukraine’s east, Pashinin worked as a volunteer supporting Ukraine’s forces in the east, delivering aid. In particular, in December 2014, during heavy fighting for Donetsk airport, Pashinin visited the Ukrainian-held frontline town of Pisky and met with Yevgen Zhukov, the commander of airborne forces defending the embattled airport.
Later, in February 2015, he delivered aid to a Ukrainian border guard unit in the town of Sartana just to the north-east of the Donetsk Oblast port city of Mariupol. He also visited the encampments of the Azov Regiment, which had been defending Mariupol.
In Russia, Pashinin has faced heavy criticism for his actions.
According to Tsaplienko’s Facebook post, the actor-turned-soldier eventually joined the Ukrainian Volunteer Army, a paramilitary combat formation created in December 2015 by Dmytro Yarosh, the former leader of the Right Sector organization of far-right groups.
The journalist posted a photo of Pashinin, in full combat gear, manning a Kalashnikov machine gun in a dugout.
Interestingly, another Russian movie star – Mikhail Porechenkov, who is known for endorsing Russia’s war in the Donbas and who was even videoed in September 2014 shooting at Ukrainian trenches at Donetsk airport with a heavy machine gun – was also the main character in “Stormgates.”
