Canada's Trudeau off to Kyiv

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau visited Kyiv on Saturday in a gesture of support as Ukraine braces for a major counteroffensive against Russian forces and grapples with regular air strikes, Reuters reported.

Trudeau paid his respects at a memorial site in central Kyiv to Ukrainian soldiers who have been killed fighting pro-Russian forces since 2014.

"Welcome to Ukraine Mr. Prime Minister," Ukrainian Deputy Foreign Minister Andriy Melnyk tweeted, alongside a photograph of them shaking hands on the platform of a train station.

NATO member Canada, which has one of the world's largest Ukrainian diasporas, has supplied military and financial assistance to Ukraine during the full-scale invasion launched by Russia in February 2022.

Trudeau's unannounced trip to Kyiv followed a night of Russian missile and drone attacks on targets outside the capital, including Odesa, Poltava region and Kharkiv.

The Canadian prime minister was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland, a Ukrainian speaker.