John Cena slammed for 'insensitive' Ukraine tweet: 'Not the time'

Former wrestler John Cena has been slammed on social media after sharing an 'insensitive' tweet about the war between Russia and Ukraine.

The 44-year-old appeared to be using the conflict to promote his new show Peacemaker, writing: "If I could somehow summon the powers of a real-life #Peacemaker I think this would be a great time to do so."

Peacemaker fights for peace, no matter the cost and first appeared in the 2021 film The Suicide Squad with the TV series being released this year.

While some followers played along with the idea, many were left disappointed by it, labelling it as 'disrespectful'.

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"Great time to hashtag your show for trending purposes … very insensitive don’t you think?" one follower responded.

"John, this is in poor taste. Also, your character is not the good guy," another said.

"I see what you’re trying to do here. Now's not a time for comedy," a third added.

"I’m just saying there is never an appropriate moment to say this, especially now," someone else wrote.

"Why are you using a war to advertise a show? We are reaching new lows with this," another added.

"This is not the right thing to tweet at this time," yet another wrote.

"You don’t have the powers of Peacemaker but you do have the power of money and status. Please donate to help Ukraine or spread the link to donate," one user suggested.

"A bit tone-deaf @JohnCena. Please delete. From a conversation I'm in: Families have literally been blown to pieces in Ukraine Meanwhile Cena, 'I AM A COMIC BOOK ACTOR, IF MY CHARACTER WAS REAL, I WOULD STOP IT FROM HAPPENING,'" one fan pointed out.

Putin invades Ukraine

Russian President Vladimir Putin was condemned by leaders around the world after ordering his troops to invade Ukraine on Thursday.

In the hours that followed, there were explosions reported in Donetsk and Kyiv, the capital.

Ukrainian officials said their forces were battling Russians on multiple fronts, and had lost control of the decommissioned Chernobyl nuclear power plant, scene of the world’s worst nuclear disaster.

The State Border Guard Service of Ukraine said in a statement on Facebook it had also lost Zmiinyi Island, also known as Snake Island, south of the mainland.

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