Sean Penn receives mock Oscars statuette made from Ukraine war ruins after skipping Academy Awards
Sean Penn receives mock Oscars statuette made from Ukraine war ruins after skipping Academy Awards
Joey NolfiWed, March 18, 2026 at 1:08 PM UTC
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Sean Penn receives 'IronOscar' in UkraineCredit: Stephane Cardinale - Corbis/Corbis via Getty; Kurt Krieger/Corbis via Getty
Sean Penn wasn't in attendance Sunday evening to receive his Academy Award for Best Supporting Actor for One Battle After Another, but the Ukrainians who hosted him overseas on Hollywood's biggest night still came through to make sure the star received hardware.
In a video shared Tuesday by Ukrainian Railways CEO Oleksandr Pertsovskyi, Penn received an "IronOscar" statuette from the company after the star skipped the Oscars to continue activism work in Ukraine.
"Sean Penn opted for the trip to [Ukraine] vs. Oscar ceremony at Dolby Theater where he was awarded his 3rd," Pertsovskyi wrote alongside sharing a video of Penn receiving the mock award.
Sean Penn in 2025Credit: Dominique Charriau/WireImage
"That’s what your presence here means," Pertsovskyi tells Penn in the clip. You're missing the Oscars, so we made you this one. This is from a railcar that was damaged by the Russians. The metal survived, so it’s very special to us. It’s not golden, but it’s very real and from the bottom of our hearts."
The pair then hug, with Penn replying, "These are all treasures. Thank you."
Pertsovskyi also shared a close-up photo of the IronOscar, with words engraved on the back that read, "This steel once carried millions of people away from war. Then a Russian missile came. We did not melt it into a weapon. We forged it into gratitude — for you. For your talent. For your courage to stand with Ukraine."
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Despite attending the Golden Globes in January, Penn missed the remaining major awards shows leading up to his third Oscar victory on Sunday, including SAG's Actor Awards and the BAFTA Awards — both of which awarded him Best Supporting Actor .
Penn's activism in Ukraine has been well documented since Russia ignited its ongoing war with Ukraine in 2022, with the Milk and Mystic River actor even co-directing a documentary, Superpower, about his work in the region that was released in 2023.
Ukraine's president, Volodymyr Zelenskyy, thanked Penn in an earlier social media post praising the actor for shifting his focus to Ukraine instead of the Oscars.
"Sean, thanks to you, we know what a true friend of Ukraine is. You have stood with Ukraine since the first day of the full-scale war," Zelenskyy wrote in the post alongside a photo of the pair. "This is still true today. And we know that you will continue to stand with our country and our people."
Outside of his work in Ukraine, Penn's achievement at the Oscars positions him alongside other Hollywood greats who've won three Academy Awards for acting, including Jack Nicholson, Meryl Streep, Daniel Day-Lewis, and Ingrid Bergman.
Watch Penn receive his award in the video above.
on Entertainment Weekly
Source: “AOL Entertainment”
