European leaders pledged unwavering support for Ukraine as the war-torn country marked its Independence Day on Wednesday, coinciding with the six-month milestone of Russia's invasion.
Leaders paid tribute to the sacrifices and courage of the Ukrainian people, voiced their resolve to keep supplying Ukraine with weapons and reviled Moscow for its attack on the neighboring Eastern European nation.
In Britain, floral and musical tributes punctuated a show of solidarity as Ukraine commemorated its 1991 declaration of independence from the Soviet Union. The U.K. Ministry of Defense tweeted a video of the Scots Guards Band, which usually provides musical accompaniment for the Changing of the Guard at Buckingham Palace, performing Ukraine's winning Eurovision Song Contest entry, “Stefania.”
An arch of sunflowers — Ukraine's national flower — decorated the entrance to British prime minister's Downing Street office.
Prime Minister Boris Johnson, who is soon to leave office, urged allies to keep giving Ukraine all the military, humanitarian, economic and diplomatic support it needs.
“We will never reco gnize Russia's annexation of Crimea or any other Ukrainian territory,” Johnson said in a Tuesday video address to an international summit on Russia's seizure of the Crimean Peninsula from Ukraine in 2014. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said in a video posted on Twitter that “our hearts go out to those who pay for the Russian war terror with their lives day after day, who are maimed and wounded.”