Hayden Panettiere Wedding Postponed Due to Ukraine Crisis
Hayden Panettiere has announced that she and fiancé Wladimir Klitschko have postponed their wedding due to the crisis in the Ukraine. Klitschko is from the Ukraine, and his brother, Vitali, is one of the new government leaders trying to cope with the current conflict between the Ukraine and Russia.
"Everything that's happening in Ukraine definitely put a hold on things," Panettiere told Parade magazine. "But we have time."
Panettiere and Klitschko announced their engagement in 2013 and knew they faced a long road ahead as they watched things go from bad to worse in Ukraine. They decided to visit the country to offer encouragement and met with protestors determined to keep Ukraine free from Russian control.
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"Keep fighting. I love you all," the "Nashville" star told the group. "There is a movement happening here and we have a chance to make things right, to make things just. You have a right to democracy. Your struggles and your fight are not falling on deaf ears. You are being heard. The world will hear you. And as an American, I want you to know that I stand by you, I support your fight, and I will support it until the country of Ukraine in its entirety reflects the beauty, the true beauty of the Ukrainian people."
Vitali is the opposition's leader and actually ran for president but withdrew his nomination in order to focus on running for mayor of Kiev, where he felt he could do more work.
"We need to change a lot of things in Ukraine – we have the chance right now and it is critical that we take that chance," Vitali told Foreign Policy in April. "In 2004, after the Orange Revolution, people dreamed of making changes but were ultimately disappointed because the politicians who promised that [went back on their promises] and nothing was done. We can't make the same mistakes we did ten years ago."
