For part of her Mother's Day, first lady Jill Biden made an unannounced trip to a small city in Ukraine to meet with those suffering from the Russian invasion.
Dr. Biden was in Uzhhorod, a city located in the southwestern corner of Ukraine, and while there, she met with displaced citizens living in temporary housing that was once a school.
The school-turned temporary shelter is housing 163 Ukrainians, which includes 47 children, CBS News reported.
Biden met with the first lady of Ukraine, Olena Zelenska, who made her first public appearance since the beginning of the invasion on Feb. 24.
While not only sharing her support for Ukraine, Biden also made a point that she wanted to come on Mother's Day of all days.
"I wanted to come on Mother's Day," Biden said to Zelenska. "We thought it was important to show the Ukrainian people this war has to stop. And this war has been brutal."
United States officials shared with CNN that this is not the first time the two had spoken, as Zelenska has been speaking with Biden throughout the last few weeks. Now, the two were able to meet face to face and show that their two nations stand together.
"First of all, I would like to thank you for a very courageous act," Zelenska said to Biden through a translator. "Because we understand what it takes for the U.S. 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. 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."
"The people of the United States stand with the people of Ukraine," Biden said.
After the public meeting, the two met behind closed doors for about one hour.
After departing the U.S. on Thursday, first lady Biden has one day left on her four-day Europe trip, where she was meeting with refugee families in Romania and Slovakia.
This is a rare visit for a first lady to make to a country at war, but not the first, as first lady Laura Bush visited Afghanistan twice, once in 2005 and again in 2008, in an effort to show support for Afghan women.
Several other U.S. officials have ventured into Ukraine in the last 10 weeks, including Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi and Defense Secretary Llyod Austin.
In March, President Joe Biden visited refugees on the border of Ukraine during a week trip, but he has yet to venture into the war-torn country itself.
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