Angelina Jolie's Ukraine visit sparks military drama over bodyguard's alleged 'detention'

This was first reported by local Telegram channels. Sources from Suspilne and the local publication MOST also confirmed the actress's visit.

Oleksandr Tolokonnikov, deputy head of the Kherson Regional State Administration, told Espreso that he currently cannot confirm or deny this information. It is worth noting that such wording is often used when awaiting official confirmation.

Former Kherson city council member Vitalii Bohdanov also published a photo with the actress.

The published photos show Angelina Jolie visiting children. It is said that she came as part of a charitable program and visited local medical facilities.

It is also known that the head of the Kherson City Military Administration presented Angelina Jolie with a commemorative coin 'Kherson'.

Currently, there is no official information from the actress's press service. There are also no posts about this on her Instagram page yet.

Incident related to the Territorial Center for Recruitment

Later, information began to spread on Telegram channels that supposedly one of Angelina Jolie's bodyguards was taken to a Territorial Center for Recruitment in the Mykolaiv region during the night. Therefore, Angelina Jolie had to personally pick up the man from there. A video is also circulating on the network showing the Hollywood star entering a Territorial Center for Recruitment.

"About Jolie's bodyguard - I confirm, it's true. He was really taken to the Territorial Center for Recruitment and they wanted to mobilize him. Well, it's just insane," Ukrainian MP Oleksii Honcharenko confirmed the information.

Sources in the command of the Ground Forces also confirmed to the TSN information about Jolie's visit to the Territorial Center for Recruitment, but say the reason was different - she wanted to use the restroom.

"Everything is fine with Angelina Jolie, she really did visit the Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support. She stopped by and asked to use the restroom. Regarding her bodyguard — he is a reserve officer. Nobody detained him by force. He was invited to visit the Territorial Center for Recruitment and Social Support. They established his identity, after which he calmly went about his business. No problematic issues arose. Everything was within the framework of the law," a high-ranking source in the command of the Ground Forces told the publication.

• Angelina Jolie already visited Ukraine in April 2022. At that time, during the active phase of the Russian invasion, she came to Lviv. The purpose of the visit was humanitarian: the actress, who is a special envoy of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, met with displaced persons, children who fled the hostilities, as well as with volunteers and doctors. Her appearance was a surprise for Lviv residents, and world media noted that Jolie arrived without official escort, seeking to see the consequences of the war with her own eyes.