No, Sir Ian McKellen isn’t in Ukraine.
The man himself has cleared up some confusion after a photo circulated on social media making everyone think he’d flown in to join Angelina Jolie in Lviv, Ukraine, but it turns out that’s not the case.
Sir Ian has taken to Twitter to dismiss the speculation and confirmed he’s not been over to the country amid the Russian invasion.
He tweeted: ‘Despite reports and supposed photographs circulating online, I have not visited Lviv or elsewhere in Ukraine.’
The rumours started after Maksym Bespalov shared a snap of himself with the Lord of the Rings legend, and tagged the location as Ukraine – but there was more than meets the eye.
After the picture went everywhere on social media, Maksym has explained the photo was actually taken in London back in November 2021, and shared on Facebook at the time.
He has since replied to Sir Ian on Twitter and said: ‘It was my joke on FB, sorry. I also wrote about Bruce Lee, but medias published only a news about you.’
He later added: ‘I’m an author of the photo. Dear sir McKellen, visit Ukraine, please. It would be very inspirating for us! (sic)’
So, that clears that up – but it seems some fans still quite like the idea of seeing Sir Ian visit the country, with plenty of them referencing Gandalf in their replies.
One wrote: ‘Well, it was a nice story while it lasted…the thought of Gandalf in Lviv was very heartening.’
Another added: ‘I got to admit it would be pretty epic seeing Gandalf stop this conflict.’
And a different fan quipped: ‘Is one of these photos showing you standing in a bridge and shouting “YOU SHALL NOT PASS!” at a convoy of Russian tanks, perchance? 😉 (sic)’
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Speculation about Sir Ian came after Tomb Raider star Angelina flew into the city of Lviv over the weekend to meet with people who have been displaced ever since Russian forces launched their attack on the country in February.
The actress is a special envoy for the United Nations refugee agency, and she has met volunteers working with the displaced, who shared the realities of their ordeal.
According to Reuters, they revealed that each of the psychiatrists on duty spoke to about 15 people a day, and that many of those in the station are children aged between two and 10.
Meanwhile, Maksym Kozytsky – Lviv’s regional governor – explained how Jolie also spoke to children undergoing treatment for injuries sustained in the missile strike on the Kramatorsk railway station last month.
In a social media post, he wrote: ‘She was very moved by (the children´s) stories. One girl was even able to privately tell Ms Jolie about a dream she’d had.’
He added that she also visited a boarding school to meet students, and took photos with them while promising ‘she would come again’.
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