Sean Penn Missed Oscars Ceremony, Award Because He's in Ukraine

Sean Penn scored his third Oscar win Sunday night, earning Best Supporting Actor for his role in “One Battle After Another” … but wasn’t actually there to take home the trophy, and now we’ve found out why.

During Sunday’s broadcast, Kieran Culkin — who was presenting the Best Supporting Actor category — accepted the award on behalf of the absent actor, saying that SP “couldn’t be here this evening … or didn’t want to.”

Turns out Penn skipped the ceremony because he’s in Ukraine … Mykola Serha, founder of Cultural Forces — a collective of Ukrainian service members associated with the arts — told The Associated Press. He didn’t give any details about Sean’s trip.

This isn’t the first time Sean has ditched the Oscars … he also bailed when he was up for “Dead Man Walking” in 1996, “Sweet and Lowdown” in 2000, and “I Am Sam” in 2002.

Over the past couple weeks, he was a no-show for the BAFTAs and The Actor Awards … where he also won.