While Sean Penn didn’t attend the 98th Academy Awards on Sunday — and wasn’t present to accept his Best Supporting Actor Oscar for “One Battle After Another” — Ukrainian officials stepped in to recognize the actor’s commitment to supporting them through its war with Russia by gifting him a mock Oscar crafted with steel from railways destroyed by Russian missiles.
“We couldn’t leave our great friend and loyal Ukrainian Railways passenger without an award. So, I have presented Sean with our IronOscar on behalf of all of us!” Ukrainian Railways CEO Oleksandr Pertsovsky said in an X post on Tuesday.
The post was coupled with photos and videos of him presenting Penn with the trophy.
In a video, Pertsovsky explained the background story of the Oscar. Watch below:
“You’re missing the Oscar, so we made it,” Pertsovsky said in the clip. “This is from the railcar that was damaged by the Russians,” Pertsovsky said, handing over the Oscar to Penn. “You said the metals survived, so we put some words here that are very special to us. It’s not golden but it’s very real and from the bottom of our hearts.”
“These are all treasures, thank you,” Penn responded.
The back of the iron Oscar reads: “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.
Penn, who won his third Oscar for his performance in “One Battle After Another,” skipped the 98th Academy Awards and was later photographed visiting Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
“Sean, thanks to you, we know what a true friend of Ukraine is,” Zelenskyy wrote Monday in an X post. “You have stood with Ukraine since the first day of the full-scale war. This is still true today,” he added. “And we know that you will continue to stand with our country and our people.”
