You're reading: Orlando Bloom makes surprise visit to Ukraine (VIDEO)

Kids in war-torn eastern Ukraine had a surprise visit from a very familiar and famous face on April 27.

Orlando Bloom, the star of Hollywood blockbusters “The Lord of the Rings” and “Pirates of the Caribbean,” appeared unannounced at a secondary school in Sloviansk in Donetsk Oblast.

Orlando Bloom

Children pose for selfie with British actor Orlando Bloom in in Svitlodarsk, Donetsk Oblast, on April 28.

Sloviansk, a city of 115,000, was taken over in April 2014 and used as a base for Russian-backed armed groups, but was liberated by the Ukrainian armed forces three months later. In May 2014, school No. 13 was hit by shellfire. The students and teachers hid in the school basement and no one was hurt.

Two years after the shelling, Bloom, who is a goodwill ambassador for the UN children’s organization UNICEF, visited the school to show support for the children. Bloom’s secret visit didn’t stay secret for long: excited students started taking photos with the movie star and immediately posted them on social networks. However, UNICEF’s Ukraine website has yet to post any information about Bloom’s visit to Ukraine.

Hollywood star Orlando Bloom

Orlando Bloom, a goodwill ambassador for the UN children’s organization UNICEF, visits a school in Svitlodarsk to show support to the children affected by the war in the Donbas.

Bloom flew from Paris to Kharkiv via Kyiv on April 27. Anastasia Senina, a Kharkiv native who won the “Queen of Ukraine” beauty contest in 2013, was on the flight with Bloom. She posted a selfie with the actor on Facebook and said that he would be in Ukraine for a week.

The 39-year-old actor has been UNICEF goodwill ambassador since 2009.

Local media reported that after visiting Sloviansk, the actor traveled on to meet with children in the nearby towns of Kramatorsk and Sviatohorsk. Bloom came within 60 kilometers of parts of Ukraine that are still under the control of Russian-backed armed gangs, where there is daily fighting between them and the Ukrainian armed forces.

Orlando Bloom unexpectedly pays a visit to a secondary school No 13 in Sloviansk, Donetsk Oblast on April 27.

UNICEF said that Bloom would make no press appearances while in Ukraine.

“UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador Orlando Bloom is currently in Ukraine and is meeting with children who have suffered because of the conflict. For security reasons, the details of his visits with UNICEF are not being disclosed,” UNICEF’s press service told the Kyiv Post.

Bloom is the first famous UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador to visit Donbas military conflict zone since Russian-backed armed groups seized control of parts of eastern Ukraine in April 2014, starting the current conflict.

Bloom has worked for UNICEF since 2007, when he visited remote schools in Nepal. He has also met with children in Moscow and Sarajevo as part of his work for UNICEF.