Rust Cinematographer Halyna Hutchins’ Parents Are Stuck in Kyiv, Husband Says

Photo by Fred Hayes/Getty Images for SAGindie

The parents of Halyna Hutchins, the cinematographer shot and killed on the set of Rust, are reportedly stuck in Ukraine amid Vladimir Putin‘s invasion.

Her husband, Matt Hutchins, said on his private Twitter account that Hutchins’ parents are trapped in Kyiv “because of the danger of travel,” NPR reported.

Halyna Hutchins was born in Zhytomyr, Ukraine, which was a part of the Soviet Union at the time. According to NPR, she studied journalism at Kyiv National University and kept her Ukrainian citizenship when she moved to the U.S. to work as a cinematographer. She and her husband had one son, 9-year-old Andros.

“Ukrainian refugees need humanitarian corridors. Halyna’s family is trapped in Kyiv because of the danger of travel,” Matt Hutchins tweeted, adding that her parents, Olga and Anatoly Androsovych, stayed in Kyiv “to prepare for the worst.” He said her mother continues to work in the hospital where she’s been a nurse for over a decade “because her country needs her, but also because they cannot leave safely.”

He added that Halyna’s sister Svetlana Androsovych safely fled Kyiv to Romania with her 3-year-old daughter and will continue onward to Western Europe.

However, her “parents stayed in Kyiv to prepare for the worst. Mother, Olga, still working as nurse at the hospital where has worked for 30+ years.”

According to NPR, Hutchins praised those defending Ukraine and called for increased support for Ukrainian refugees and a no-fly zone.

“China needs to step up and do what NATO cannot. Chinese intervention to guarantee both sides will stay out of the sky and not use rocket bombardment of ground forces would boost China’s global standing and save face for Vladimir Putin,” he said.

Hutchins is suing Alec Baldwin and other producers of Rust alleging that “reckless” and cost-cutting behavior led to his 42-year-old wife being shot after a prop gun was accidentally discharged.

Hutchins has also disputed Baldwin’s claim that he never pulled the gun’s trigger, saying “the idea that the person holding the gun and causing it to discharge is not responsible is absurd to me.”

“But gun safety was not the only problem on that set. There were a number of industry standards that were not practiced and there’s multiple responsible parties,” he added.