(Kyiv) Le premier ministre canadien Justin Trudeau s’est rendu dimanche à Irpin dans la banlieue de Kyiv, ville dévastée par des combats intenses entre les armées ukrainienne et russe, avant son occupation en mars par les Russes, a annoncé le maire de la ville.
Publié à 10h18
Mis à jour à 12h04
« [Justin Trudeau] came to Irpin to see with his own eyes all the horrors that the Russian occupiers have done to our city,” wrote Oleksandre Markouchine on Telegram, accompanying his message with photos taken with Mr. Trudeau in the destroyed city.
Justin Trudeau’s visit to Ukraine had not been announced.
Mr. Trudeau was accompanied by Deputy Prime Minister Chrystia Freeland and Minister of Foreign Affairs Mélanie Joly.
PHOTO PROVIDED BY THE OFFICE OF THE MAYOR OF IRPIN VIA ASSOCIATED PRESS
“The prime minister is in Ukraine to meet with President Zelensky and reaffirm our unwavering support for the Ukrainian people,” his office said.
Mr. Markouchine wanted to “sincerely thank” the Prime Minister for “the support Canada is providing to Ukraine today”.
“We believe in continued cooperation between our countries in the reconstruction of Ukrainian cities after our victory,” he said.
Irpin, at the northwestern gates of Kyiv, was the scene of heavy fighting between Russians and Ukrainians in the early days of the Russian invasion in late February.
The Russian army quickly took control of this city which had 60,000 inhabitants before the war, which it then occupied throughout the month of March.
Kyiv has since accused the Russian forces of having committed massacres there – just like in the neighboring town of Boutcha – after the discovery of dozens of corpses wearing civilian clothes in these localities occupied and then abandoned by the Russian army.
Several Western officials, including UN chief Antonio Guterres, visited Irpin and other residential areas around Kyiv recently.
Justin Trudeau’s trip came the same day as US First Lady Jill Biden made a brief surprise visit to meet her Ukrainian counterpart Olena Zelenska in Uzhhorod, at a school near the Slovakian border.
Justin Trudeau, Chrystia Freeland and Mélanie Joly raised their flag together at the Canadian Embassy, which is expected to reopen in the coming days.
The Canadian Prime Minister is due to meet Volodymyr Zelensky later. Both are due to take part in a virtual G7 meeting on the situation in Ukraine.