Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau paid a surprise visit to the Ukrainian capital Kyiv on Saturday as fighting with Russian forces in the south of the country raged.

Trudeau, who is due to meet Ukrainian President Volodomir Zelensky later, laid a wreath on a wall displaying the faces of fallen soldiers in Kiev, accompanied by a military band, AFP journalists reported.

Canada, a country with a large Ukrainian emigrant community, is one of Kyiv’s main allies and has provided military aid and training to more than 36,000 Ukrainian soldiers.

In addition to sanctions against Russia.

Trudeau visited an open dump of destroyed military vehicles.

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Oleksandr Polishchuk presented the Canadian Prime Minister with a box of shrapnel that fell in Odessa, Ukraine’s major Black Sea port city.

Related News: NATO emergency meeting on Ukraine dam attack

“It’s a little reminder of how Ukraine suffered from Russian missile barrages,” Polishchuk said in English.

A group of Ukrainian military personnel who received training in Canada spoke with Trudeau.

“It is a great privilege to meet the Prime Minister,” Colonel Petro Ostapchuk said.

Trudeau’s visit comes at a time when Russian authorities are reporting several large-scale Ukrainian attacks on Moscow troop positions in the south and east of the country. These fights could be part of the great counter-offensive that Ukraine has been preparing for months.

Ukrainian authorities and the military, backed by shipments of Western equipment, are keeping a low profile and have not commented on Russia’s claims.