First Lady Flies Under The Radar To Make A Surprise Visit

First lady Jill Biden made an unannounced trip to Ukraine on Sunday, where she visited with Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska in Uzhgorod, a city in the southwest of the country.

Biden and Zelenska met at a school currently housing Ukrainian refugees fleeing Russia’s invasion.

“I wanted to come on Mother’s Day,” Biden said. “We thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people this war has to stop. And this war has been brutal … The people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine.”

Biden’s Mother’s Day stop in Ukraine is part of her larger Eastern European trip to Romania and Slovakia where she met with U.S. officials, government members and Ukrainian refugees.

“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,” Biden said.

Zelenska, who has not been seen in public since the invasion began, thanked Biden for “a courageous act.”

“We understand what it takes for the U.S. first lady to come here during a war, where the military actions are taking place every day, where the air raid sirens are happening every day — even today,” she said, speaking through a translator.

“We all feel your support,” she added. “We all feel the leadership of the U.S president. But we would like to note that Mother’s Day is a very symbolic day for us. Because we also feel your love and support during such an important day.”

The White House previously indicated that Biden would travel to the Slovakia-Ukraine border.