The voice of Mark Hamill is raising its hand in support of Ukraine. The Star Wars celebrity, 71, can be heard telling people to hide while Russia attacks a Ukrainian air defence app during the ongoing fighting in the nation. “Attention. Air raid alert,” according to HuffPost UK, Hamill states on the free app named Air Alert. “Proceed to the nearest shelter.”
The software notifies users when Russian missiles, bombers, and drones may be approaching when air raid sirens begin to sound. “Don’t be careless. Your overconfidence is your weakness,” Hamill claims, citing LBC. The English-language air-raid app’s voice actor, Hamill, also notifies users when “the air alert is over.” LBC reports that he concludes his speech by saying, “May the Force be with you.”
The conflict began in February 2022
In an interview with the Associated Press, actor Sam Hamill discussed his choice to provide his voice to the app. He expressed admiration for Ukraine’s “such resilience… under such terrible circumstances.” Also, he stated that the country’s conflict with Russia, which began in February 2022, makes him think of the Star Wars trilogy.
“A fairy tale about good versus evil is resonant with what’s going on in Ukraine,” Hamill told AP. “The Ukrainian people rallying to the cause and responding so heroically… It’s impossible not to be inspired by how they’ve weathered this storm.”
Olena Yeremina, a 38-year-old manager of a firm in Kyiv, the capital of Ukraine, said Hamill’s “May the Force be with you” parting shot motivates her to keep going. She said, “It’s a very cool phrase for this situation.” “I wouldn’t say that I feel like a Ukrainian Jedi, but sometimes this phrase reminds me to straighten my shoulders and keep working.”
Mark Hamill has signed 10 Star Wars posters
Hamill is also seeking money towards Ukraine’s purchase of drones for surveillance. According to Yahoo Finance, the celebrity has signed 10 Star Wars posters produced by original artists and are being raffled off as part of United24’s “Army of Drones” project. President Volodymyr Zelenskyy established United24 last year to gather philanthropic contributions for Ukraine.
Hamill told Yahoo that “the eyes in the sky — they monitor the border, they protect the people, they can transmit video in real-time, and they’ve been proven to be highly effective.”
According to Ajax Systems, the Ukrainian security systems manufacturer co-developed the app, and their chief marketing officer Valentine Hrytsenko, air raid alarm sirens sounded more than 19,000 times throughout the nation during the first year of the invasion.