Ukrainian actor Pasha Lee was killed on Sunday, March 6 in Irpin, Ukraine, while fighting Russian military forces as they invaded his homeland. He was 33.
The Odesa International Film Festival confirmed the actor's death through an Instagram post on March 6 writing that Lee was killed as a "result of shelling by Russian occupiers in the Ukrainian city of Irpin."
The film festival revealed that Lee had joined the Territorial Defense Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine last week "to protect the country from Russian occupiers" during the ongoing invasion. The OIFF called on the "world community to help Ukraine in the fight against Russia and stop the war" by joining Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky's call for NATO to impose a no-fly zone over the Eastern European country to counter Russian military aircrafts.
Following the news of Lee's death, Ukrainian actress Anastasiya Kasilova—who starred alongside the actor in the 2021 TV drama Provincial—took to Facebook to mourn her co-star's death.
"Pasha Li killed during the shelling in Irpen, defending Ukraine," she wrote on March 6. "He is an actor, TV presenter, my colleague and a good acquaintance… Not so long ago we shot together in a teaser for a children's film… Never forgive!"
Lee starred in several films and television shows, including Selfie Party, Shtolnya, Shadows of Unforgotten Ancestors, Zvychayna Sprava, The Fight Rules, Meeting of Classmates and more. He also did dubbing work for The Hobbit and The Lion King.
One day before his death, Lee took to Instagram to share a photo of himself in military uniform. He captioned the post, "For the last 48 hours there is an opportunity to sit down and take a picture of how we are being bombed, and we are smiling because we will manage and everything will be UKRAINE WE ARE WORKING !!!"