canadian prime minister, Justin Trudeau, arrived this Saturday (06.10.2023) in kyiv, on an unexpected trip to the Ukrainian capital, at a time when fighting with Russian forces in the south of the country is raging. The leader, who traveled accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland (who speaks Ukrainian), seeks to demonstrate his country’s support for Ukraine.

Trudeau, who is to meet the Ukrainian president, Volodomir Zelensky, laid a wreath in front of a wall that shows the faces of fallen soldiers since the beginning of the Russian invasion in 2014. On this occasion, he was accompanied by a military band. He also visited an open dump of destroyed military vehicles.

“Welcome to Ukraine, Prime Minister,” Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Melnyk tweeted, along with an image of him shaking hands with Trudeau. provided military aid and the training of more than 36,000 Ukrainian soldiers. Moreover, the North American country, member of the G7 and the NATOadopted sanctions against Russia.

shrapnel

Ukrainian Deputy Defense Minister Oleksandr Polishchuk presented the Canadian Prime Minister with a box of shrapnel that fell on Odessa, Ukraine’s major Black Sea port city. “It’s a little reminder of how Ukraine is suffering from Russian missile bombardments,” Polishchuk said in English, the same day the attackers launched drones and missiles at various Ukrainian cities.

Trudeau’s visit comes at a time when Russian authorities are reporting several large-scale Ukrainian attacks on invading 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.

DZC (AFP, Reuters)