Summary of this article
Sean Penn won his third Oscar for Best Supporting Actor for his role in One Battle After Another, but skipped the ceremony.
He was in Ukraine to be with President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Ukrainian Railways CEO Oleksandr Pertsovskyi presented Penn with a unique Iron Oscar award.
Sean Penn, 65, won his third Oscar at the 98th Academy Awards for Best Supporting Actor for his performance as Colonel Steven J Lockjaw in Paul Thomas Anderson’s One Battle After Another. Penn gave the 2026 Oscar ceremony a miss, as he was in Ukraine to be with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy. The actor has always supported the war-torn country and Zelenskyy since the first day of their war against Russia.
The US actor has been gifted a symbolic Oscar by Ukraine after skipping the Academy Awards.
Sean Penn receives special Oscar in Ukraine
Penn received an Oscar-shaped award made from the metal of a railway carriage damaged by the Russians.
In a video shared by Oleksandr Pertsovskyi on X (formerly known as Twitter), the CEO of Ukrainian Railways, Pertsovskyi tells Penn, "You're missing Oscars... So we made this one. This is from the railcar that was damaged by the Russians". Penn says, "These are all treasures. Thank you."
The Ukrainian railways also shared the video and wrote, "Sean Penn came to Ukraine and missed the Academy Awards — so Ukrainian railway gave him one of his own. This Oscar was made of the metal of a railway car damaged by russian shelling. A symbol of resilience (sic)."
Penn has been a great supporter of Ukraine. He has spent a lot of time in Ukraine since Russia launched its full-scale invasion in 2022.
For the unversed, the I Am Sam star previously gifted one of his Oscar trophies to President Zelensky following the Russian invasion.
“When you win, bring it back to Malibu,” Penn told Zelensky at the time. “Because I’ll feel much better knowing there’s a piece of me here,” as per Rolling Stone.
In 2023, Penn and director Aaron Kaufman released a documentary, Superpower, on Ukraine and Zelensky.
