'May the Force be with you': Star Wars's Mark Hamill lends voice to Ukraine air raid alerts

“Attention. Air raid alert,” the voice says with a Jedi knight’s gravitas. “Proceed to the nearest shelter.”

It’s a surreal moment in an already surreal war: the grave but calming baritone of actor Mark Hamill, Luke Skywalker of Star Wars, urging people to take cover whenever Russia unleashes another aerial bombardment on Ukraine.

The intrusion of Hollywood science-fiction fantasy into the grim daily realities of war in Ukraine is a consequence of Hamill’s decision to lend his famous voice to Air Alert — a downloadable app linked to Ukraine’s air defence system.

When air raid sirens start howling, the app also warns Ukrainians that Russian