The Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau traveled to Kiev today on a surprise visit to the Ukrainian capital as heavy fighting rages between Ukrainian and Russian forces in southern Ukraine.

Trudeau laid a wreath at a memorial to fallen Ukrainian soldiers and is expected to meet with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky later today.

“Welcome to Ukraine, Mr. Prime Minister,” he tweeted Ukraine’s Deputy Foreign Minister Andrii Melnyk, accompanying his post with a photo of the men shaking hands on a train station platform. The Canadian Prime Minister is accompanied by the Deputy Prime Minister, Chrystia Freeland.

The Deputy Minister of Defense of Ukraine, Oleksandr Polischuk presented Trudeau with a case containing fragments from a missile that fell in Odessa.

A group of Ukrainian military personnel, trained in Canada, they spoke with the Canadian Prime Minister. “It is a great privilege to meet the prime minister,” said one of them, Colonel Petro Ostapchuk. “We had the opportunity to thank him personally,” Polishchuk said.

One soldier asked to be photographed with Trudeau, saying his wife and child live in Canada.

Canada, home to a large Ukrainian diaspora, is one of Kiev’s main supporters, having provided significant military aid and trained more than 36,000 Ukrainian soldiers. Ottawa has also imposed sanctions against Russia.

Trudeau’s visit comes as Moscow reported large-scale Ukrainian attacks against Russian military positions in the south and east Ukraine. These attacks may be part of a major counter-offensive that Kiev has been announcing for months. Overnight, there were also Russian missile and drone attacks on targets outside the capital, as well as in Odesa, Poltava Oblast and Kharkiv.