IRPIN, Ukraine (AP) — Four European leaders made a high-profile visit to show their support for Ukraine on Thursday, denouncing the brutality of the Russian invasion as they surveyed the ruins of a Kyiv suburb that was the scene of intense fighting early in the war and where many civilians were killed.
After arriving in Kyiv to the sound of air raid sirens, the leaders of France, Germany, Italy and Romania headed to Irpin, which was seized and briefly held by Russian troops along with other areas near the capital. Mass graves have been unearthed in the area, most notably in Bucha, and French President Emmanuel Macron decried the massacres and said there were signs of war crimes.
He denounced the “barbarism” of the attacks that devastated Irpin, and praised the courage of its residents and others in the region who helped thwart Russia’s attempt to overrun the capital.
The visit, which included a meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, carries heavy symbolic weight since the three Western European powers have faced criticism for continuing to engage with Russian President Vladimir Putin — and failing to provide Ukraine with the scale of weaponry that it has said is necessary to fend off the Russians.
Western arms were key to Ukraine’s surprising success in preventing the Russians from taking the capital — but officials have said much more will be needed if they are to drive Moscow’s forces out.
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JUST IN: French president visits Kyiv suburb, decries "massacre" https://t.co/jsgcYVIjGX pic.twitter.com/WyYyyxdDrG
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