An Army of Drones. That sounds kind of Stars Warsy, right? Actor and Jack-in-the-Box commercial ad guy Mark Hamill spoke to Ukrainian President Zelensky and signed on as an ambassador to raise money for the purchase of drones through United24. Seven months into Putin’s war in Ukraine, the actor who played Luke Skywalker in the Star Wars franchise becomes the latest celebrity to publicly support Zelensky and the people of Ukraine.

Hamill spoke with Zelensky in a video call yesterday and pledged his support to partner up with Kyiv’s fundraising arm, United24. Hamill joins other performers like Barbra Streisand, Leiv Schreiber, rock band Imagine Dragons, and former athlete Andriy Shevchenko.

Honored to be an Ambassador for the Army of Drones and to help President Zelenskyy and the people of Ukraine in any way possible 🇺🇦@ZelenskyyUA @U24_gov_ua pic.twitter.com/1JafSR7Nny

— Mark Hamill (@MarkHamill) September 29, 2022

Russia has been branded an evil empire by Hamill, though he is hardly the first to make that observation. United24’s ‘Army of Drones’ project acquires remote-controlled flying drones and funds their maintenance and pilot training. To date, Ukraine has received 986 unmanned aerial vehicles (drones) that are worth about $51.8 through the United 24 initiative. The Ukrainian army uses them to monitor Ukraine’s 1,500 mile long frontline and they provide effective response to Russia’s attacks.

Hamill, who is now 71 years old (I know), released a statement about his new partnership.

‘I know for certain that Ukrainians need drones to protect their land, their freedom and the values of the entire democratic world. Right now is the best time for everyone to come together and help Ukraine stand up in this war with the evil empire.’

The Daily Mail reports that the two men toasted their new partnership.

‘As in Star Wars, good will triumph over evil and light will overcome darkness. With you in the team, there’s no other way around it,’ he added.

The president’s official Instagram page also shared the news, writing: ‘American actor who played Luke Skywalker in Star Wars, Mark Hamill became the ambassador of the UNITED24 fundraising platform.

‘He is the first ambassador to help raise funds to support our defenders, the Drone Army.

‘This is a difficult yet very important mission. Mark, we are sure you will definitely handle it. Thank you for supporting the Ukrainian people in our struggle for freedom.’

So far, United24 says it has raised $187,826,449 to provide everything from socks and boots to armored vehicles and military hardware.

Hamill’s announcement came on the eve of Putin preparing to formally annex Russian-occupied parts of Ukraine. These are areas where Putin’s sham elections took place. The Ukrainian government and the West have denounced the Russian ballots as illegal.

Barbra Streisand contributed earlier this month to a United24 campaign that raised money for medical staff and supplies. Her grandparents emigrated to the UK from Ukraine. She, too, is an ambassador for United24. She donated $24,000 to the 24,000 Friends of Ukraine initiative.

The initiative comes under the United24 umbrella and asks its donors to commit to $24 monthly subscriptions.

Funds raised as part of this initiative are directed to medical staff in charge of planning the procurement of medical supplies on the frontline of the war, with the goal to sign up 24,000 subscribers to raise over $500,000 per month.

Streisand told Zelensky: ‘Coming from my Jewish heritage with Ukrainian roots, I feel especially moved by [Ukrainian’s fight for freedom].

‘The capability and courage of the Ukrainian people is an inspiration for all those worldwide who promote democracy and fight authoritarianism. You and the Ukrainian people have my full support.’

It’s a good cause and, let’s be honest, drones are cool. Let Streisand help out on the funding for doctors and medical supplies going to the frontlines. Luke Skywalker is a good fit for raising money for drones to monitor the frontline border.

Earlier this week, the Department of Defense confirmed that Russia is using drones acquired from Iran in Ukraine.

Pentagon spokesman Brig. Gen. Patrick Ryder confirmed the United States has seen such intelligence during Tuesday’s briefing, more than two months after the administration first warned about Russia’s intent to purchase “hundreds” of UAVs from Iran.

So we — we do assess that the Russians now are using the Iranian drones that we’ve talked about in the past,” he said, adding, “In terms of their effectiveness, I don’t want to provide a battle damage assessment here from the podium or get into specific intelligence other than to say, again, we’ve seen them employ them. We’ve also seen reports of the Ukrainians shooting down some of these drones.”

Ukraine’s Ministry of Defense claimed on Sept. 13 that it had shot down an Iranian drone launched by Russians for the first time. The ministry posted photos of the wreckage of the drone on social media and identified the drone as a Shahed-136. Officials said the army shot down the drone near Kupiansk, Kharkiv.

Zelensky started United24 four months ago. The organization has raised money from 110 countries.