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Arnold Schwarzenegger has said he wants to “debunk Russian mistruths” in a message to the people of Russia, saying: “Ukraine did not start this war.” The 74-year-old actor posted a message directed at the Russian people saying “there are things going on in the world that are being kept from you, terrible things that you should know about”.

The former bodybuilder said he has had nothing but “affection and respect for the people of Russia” since he was 14 after meeting his hero bodybuilder Yuri Petrovich Vlasov and later spending a day with him on the set of his film Red Heat in Russia. In a video posted on Twitter, he said: “No-one likes to hear anything critical about their government, I understand that, but as a long-time friend of the Russian people, I hope that you will hear what I have to say. 

“There are moments like this that are so wrong and then we have to speak up. I know that your government has told you that this is a war to denazify Ukraine, this is not true.