Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau arrived unexpectedly in the Ukrainian capital, Kyiv, on Saturday to show support as Ukraine prepares for a significant counteroffensive against Russian forces and faces repeated airstrikes. At a memorial site in central Kyiv, Trudeau paid tribute to the souls of Ukrainian soldiers who have been killed in the ongoing conflict with Russian-backed forces since 2014.
Trudeau confirmed that "Canada will participate in training Ukrainian fighter pilots, in addition to providing military aid to Kyiv worth 500 million Canadian dollars, which is approximately 375 million US dollars." In a press conference in Kyiv, he stated that Canada had seized a Russian Antonov cargo plane that landed last year and began the process of transferring it to Ukraine.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky noted that "Ukrainian forces have begun their counteroffensive against Russia, and our troops are executing defensive counterattacks, but I will not discuss details or disclose at what stage we are; I believe we will all sense it ourselves soon."
Trudeau's visit followed a night of Russian missile and drone attacks on targets outside the Ukrainian capital, including Odesa, Poltava, and Kharkiv.
