Jill Biden makes secret Mother’s Day visit to Ukraine
Jill Biden visited the Ukraine in a surprise visit on Sunday where she met her Ukrainian counterpart Olena Zelensky and expressed American support for the embattled nation.
‘I wanted to come on Mother’s Day. I thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people that this war has to stop and this war has been brutal and that the people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine,’ she said.
Biden is the highest profile member of President Joe Biden‘s administration to visit the war torn country. She called the president from her car as her motorcade left the Ukraine to return to Slovena, an East Wing official said.
The visit wasn’t announced due to security reasons. The first lady traveled by vehicle to the town of Uzhhorod, about a 10-minute drive from a Slovakian village that borders Ukraine. She spent about two hours in Ukraine.
The first lady always planned to visit a school in the Ukraine as part of her trip, her spokesperson Michael LaRosa told reporters traveling with her but Ukrainian officials suggested Mrs. Zelensky would want to meet her. That part of the visit came together in the past 10 days.
Biden gave Zelensky, the wife of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, a bouquet of flowers. This is the first time Zelensky has appeared in public since Feb. 24, the date that Russia invaded.
The two first ladies have exchanged correspondences in the last few weeks, the White House said. It began when the Ukrainian ambassador to the U.S. gave Biden a letter from Mrs. Zelensky at the State of the Union, when she was one of the first lady’s guests. Zelensky sent Biden another letter in April expressing concerns about the toll of the war having on the mental health of children, soldiers and families.
‘First of all, I would like to thank you for a very courageous act,’ Zelensky said through a translator when she and Jill Biden met together at the school
‘Because we understand what it takes for the US First Lady to come here during a war when the military actions are taking place every day, where the air sirens are happening every day even today,’ she said. She and her children have been in a secure location during the war.
‘We all feel your support and we all feel the leadership of the U.S. president but we would like to note that the Mother’s Day is a very symbolic day for us because we also feel your love and support during such an important day,’ Zelensky said.
The two also met privately for about 30 minutes. LaRosa said the first lady asked Zelensky how she was doing as a mother and how she handling the war. Zelensky said she was grateful she ‘is able to hold her children’s hands every night even though she can’t be with her husband.’
The first ladies visited a public school in Uzhhorod that is being used as temporary housing and shelter for 163 displaced Ukrainians, including 47 children.
They joined kids who were working on art projects for their mothers. The children were crafting cardboard and tissue paper bears, which represent the symbol of the Zakarpattia Oblast.
Both women worked on crafting their own bears, using white and yellow tissue paper.
President Joe Biden has said he would like to visit the Ukraine but is not allowed – likely due to security reasons. Secretary of State Antony Blinken and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin had been the most high-profile members of the administration to date to visit the Ukraine. Speaker Nancy Pelosi and other members of Congress also have visted and met with President Zelensky in Kyiv.
Jill Biden’s visit came a few hours before President Zelensky was scheduled to speak with President Biden and western allies in a G7 virtual meeting. The first lady was in the Western part of the country as officials feared dozens of Ukrainians had been killed by a Russian airstrike in eastern Ukraine, where the fighting is at its strongest. Jill Biden was never in any danger.
Jill Biden and Olena Zelensky, wife of Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky
Jill Biden with Olena Zelensky – this is the first time Zelensky has appeared in public since Feb. 24, the date of the Russian invasion
Jill Biden and Olena Zelensky join a group of children in making tissue-paper bears
Jill Biden and Olena Zelensky have corresponded in the past few weeks, the White House said
First Lady Jill Biden reaches out to hug Olena Zelenska, spouse of Ukrainian’s President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, left, at the end of their visit to School 6, a public school that has taken in displaced students in Uzhhorod, Ukraine
Jill Biden spent about two hours in the Ukraine on Sunday, where she met with Olena Zelensky, and visited a school
Jill Biden was not the only high-profile figure to visit the Ukraine on Mother’s Day.
U2 stars Bono and The Edge performed a surprise concert in Kyiv after being personally invited by President Zelensky.
And Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau made a secret stop in Irpin, a Kyiv suburb targeted during Russia’s attempt to take the capital, and met Mayor Oleksandr Markushyn.
Trudeau’s office said in a statement: ‘The prime minister is in Ukraine to meet with President Zelensky and reaffirm Canada’s unwavering support for the Ukrainian people.’
Bono and The Edge also visited the site of a mass grave by the church in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, near Kyiv. Bono bowed his head in prayer during the visit.
He performed what he called a ‘Freedom Concert’ inside the Khreshchatyk metro station in Kyiv.
‘Your president leads the world in the cause of freedom right now … The people of Ukraine are not just fighting for your own freedom, you’re fighting for all of us who love freedom,’ Bono told a crowd of up to 100.
He rallied the crowd with the words, changing the lyrics to his song ‘Pride’ to fit the fight in the Ukraine.
‘This evening, 8th of May, shots will ring out in the Ukraine sky, but you’ll be free at last. They can take your lives, but they can never take your pride,’ he said
Andrii Holovine, priest of the Church of St. Andrew Pervozvannoho All Saints (second from right) guides Bono (center) and The Edge (right) visiting the site of a mass grave by the church in the Ukrainian town of Bucha, near Kyiv
Holovine shows Bono and The Edge images on his cell phone during their visit
Candian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau surveys damage in a building complex in Irpin, Ukraine
Trudeau made an unannounced visit to Irpin, a Kyiv suburb targeted during Russia’s attempt to take the capital and met its Mayor Oleksandr Markushyn
Bono (left) of the band U2 performs with Ukrainian singer Taras Topolya (right) from Antytila band, who now serves in the Ukrainian army, during a surprise concert in a metro station in Kyiv
Jill Biden’s secret visit came after the first lady spent Mother’s Day comforting Ukrainian women and children in Slovakia and touring the border region where refugees escape the war with Russia.
‘The hearts of the American people are with the mothers of Ukraine,’ she told refugees.
The trip showcased Jill Biden’s soft diplomatic touch, focusing on women and children, areas of interest to the first lady, who is a teacher. It featured words of compassion and many hugs.
She said she was inspired to make the trip by the images of refugees on television.
‘Like most Americans watching the TV, we saw all those mothers gathering their children, kissing their husbands goodbye, and then leaving the country,’ Biden told MSNBC’s Symone Sanders in an interview conducted before shshe left for Europe.
‘And it just was so emotional and just so heart-wrenching. And I said to Joe, “I can’t sit by, I just can’t sit by and do nothing.”‘
During her trip on Sunday, Biden met a mother who struggled to explain the Russian invasion to her children, walked the line of the border along chain-length fence to tour the tent city that offered humantarian assistance, gave hugs and met with students.
At a bus station in Kosice the first lady met Viktoriia Kutocha, a refugee and fellow teacher, who said she struggles to explain the war to her three children. Her seven-year-old daughter Yulie was at her side.
‘I cannot explain because I don´t know myself and I´m a teacher,’ Kutocha told Biden. ‘They come to our land. They kill us, but they say we protect you.’
‘It’s so hard to understand,’ Biden said.
She patted Kutocha arm when the mother got choked up and couldn’t continue. ‘Thank you for talking with me,’ the first lady said.
Kutocha shared her emotional journey out of her war-torn homeland and said her husband remains there where he has joined the fighting.
‘How I can explain this to child? It’s impossible,’ she said. ‘I try to keep them safe. It’s my mission.’
‘It’s senseless,’ Biden said.
Yulie then hugged the first lady, who brought in her mother for a group hug.
The 24-hour facility is one of six refugee centers in Slovakia. It provides services to approximiately 300 to 350 people daily – offering food, showers, clothing, emergency on-site accommodations and other services, according to information provided by the White House.
The vast majority of arriving refugees transit through Kosice and move onward to other countries or other Slovak cities.
Biden also visited the Vysne Nemecke crossing at the Ukraine-Slovakian border, where refugees receive basic services before moving on to other processing centers further inside Slovakia.
Humanitarian organizations also use the area to transport assistance into the Ukraine.
About 2,000 people per day cross at the area, down from over 10,000 per day immediately following Russia’s further invasion of Ukraine – and a large portion of that flow is daily cross border traffic.
First lady Jill Biden talks with Ukrainian refugees Victorie Kutocha and her daughter Yulie Kutocha, 7, at a city-run refugee center in Kosice, Slovakia
Biden hugs Victorie Kutocha and her daughter Yulie Kutocha
Jill Biden speaks with Slovakia’s Prime Minister Eduard Heger as she walks from Vysne Nemeck, Slovenia, near the border with Ukraine
Jill Biden attended mass in a tent on the Ukraine-Slovenia border
Jill Biden thanks volunteers and first responders during her visit to the border
Jill Biden meets with Slovak and Ukrainian mothers and their children as the families participate in a Mother’s Day activity in Kosice, Slovakia
Biden is the highest profile member of the administration to visit the border region. President Joe Biden visited refugees in Poland but was 60 miles away from Ukraine.
The first lady attended mass in a tent during her visit to the border. She wore a pink and white flower corsage sent to her by the president in honor of Mother’s Day. And she was accompanied by Slovakian Prime Minister Eduard Heger and his wife Lucia Hegerova.
‘We pray for the people of Ukraine,’ the priest said in the opening blessing.
She visited the series of tents, a few hundred yards from the Ukraine border, that were set up by various NGOs to assist the refugees.
She met volunteers who provide psychosocial support services to refugees and a tent operated by Slovak Catholic charities with food and other supplies.
The tent was stacked with gently used toys and pre-loved stuffed animals for children along with boxes of baby formula.
Biden also dropped in at the Tomasikova Street School, a Slovakian public school that has taken in displaced students. About 60 Ukrainian students attend there, which has offered Slovak language classes to support greater integration.
She was offered bread dripped in salt upon her arrival, which is a traditional Slovak welcome. She ate the bread and watched the students perform a song.
‘I just wanted to come and show you our support,’ Biden said.
The kids were making art projects for Mother’s Day and one by offered the first lady a drawing. It included a cat and Biden told him: ‘I have a cat.’
Jill Biden hugs a Ukrainian child during her visit to a school in Slovakia
Jill Biden arrives at a primary school on Tomasikova street, Kosice, Slovakia
A little girl shows Jill Biden her art work
Jill Biden is on a four-day trip to Europe to highlight the humantarian situation
A Ukrainian mother cries after meeting and talking to Jill Biden
The women said they speak to their husbands back in the Ukraine every day using video conferencing.
One woman, when asked what it meant to have the first lady there, said: ‘It means support for us. We are very tired. This is emotional support for us.’
Biden is wrapping up a four-day trip to Europe where she is visiting with displaced Ukrainians. More than six milllion have fled the Ukraine since Russia attacked in February. She kicked off her tour with stops in Romania and returns to the United States on Monday.