Ukrainian 'Baywatch' Actress Erika Eleniak 'Sickened' by Russia's Attack on Ukraine: 'Diabolical Behavior'

Actress Erika Eleniak, who played Shauni McClain on Baywatch, has spoken out against Russia in the wake of Putin invading her ancestral homeland Ukraine.

“I am stunned. I am sad and I am sickened by the attack on Ukraine and the Ukranian people,” she told Fox News on Thursday in the wake of the invasion.

Eleniak’s paternal great-grandfather settled in Canada and was part of the first groups of immigrants from the region to settle in the northern country, a legacy that Eleniak was “proud” of.

“I am very proud of my Ukrainian heritage and what my Great Grandfather, Wasyl Eleniak accomplished to make life better for the Ukrainian people,” she said.

Erika Eleniak in waitress outfit in a scene from the film ‘Chasers’, 1994. (Morgan Creek/Getty Images)

Eleniak called Russia’s behavior “diabolical” and hoped that the world will support the Ukrainian people at this moment.

“I have no words for the level of diabolical behavior that is being committed but I am praying that the world will rise up in support of the Ukrainian people and for ALL the people who are affected by this attack,” she concluded.

Eleniak’s career began when she played Elliott’s classroom crush in Steven Spielberg’s E.T. and continued well into the 1990s with her role on Baywatch, culminating in her starring role in Andrew Davis’ action hit Under Siege alongside Steven Seagal.

Eleniak is not the only celebrity with Ukrainian roots to speak out against the invasion. On Thursday, Maksim Chmerkovskiy of Dancing with the Stars called upon the Russian people to speak out against Putin.

This photo illustration taken in Melbourne on February 25, 2022 shows front pages of newspapers reporting on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. (WILLIAM WEST/AFP via Getty Images)

“I think that in 2022 civilized world, this is not the way we do things. I think that as a powerful forward-thinking nation and not a third-world kind of country, I think the Russians need to get up and actually say something because no one’s opinion has been heard,” he said.

“This is all one man’s ambition of just something, and however it sounds, however convenient it sounds in Moscow, however comfortable you are in Russia, I just don’t think that this is the right thing and this is the right steps and these are the correct actions,” he added.