AceShowbiz - Mark Hamill has likened Vladimir Putin's invasion of Ukraine to "Star Wars". As an ambassador for United24, the official fundraising arm of the Ukrainian government amidst its war with Russia, the 71-year-old actor - who portrayed Luke Skywalker in the franchise - has drawn similarities between the conflict and the "fairytale" depicted in the sci-fi saga.

"He did reference the movies and it's not hard to understand why. I mean 'Star Wars' was always a fairytale for children and fairytales are morality tales, of good versus evil, where good is clearly defined, evil is clearly defined and it's not hard to extrapolate an evil empire with Russia invading a soverign nation," he said of his call with Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky when speaking on BBC TV show "Sunday with Laura Kuenssberg".

And Mark thinks the global appeal of the movies was one of the reasons why Zelensky was keen to have him on board for United24's "Army of Drones" project - which is designed to raise funds for drone procurement, repair and training - and he's vowed to do what he can to help.

He added, "So it's not surprising and that's probably what appealed to him about me is that those movies touched so many people around the world. I never expected it. A - to have that kind of global appeal and B - to have lasted as long as it has."

"But it is a chance to use it for good and I feel a great responsibility to try and do everything I can to further the Ukrainian cause."

The actor paid tribute to Ukraine's "amazing" president and the "inspirational" citizens of the country. He said, "I was really fascinated with this man … because he's been absolutely heroic. And the Ukrainian people have been inspirational. He's an amazing man."