Taoiseach Leo Varadkar has vowed to stand with Ukraine for as long as it takes after holding talks with President Volodymyr Zelensky on a surprise visit to Kyiv.
Mr Zelensky held what he called "fruitful" talks with Mr Varadkar, thanking the people of Ireland for the ongoing assistance to 87,000 Ukrainian refugees, and for the country's provision of €180m in non-lethal aid.
The Taoiseach announced a further €5m in humanitarian aid, as part of a commitment to provide Ukraine with "financial, practical and political" support.
Mr Zelensky said he was "very grateful" that Mr Varadkar had travelled to the massacre site in the northern district of Bucha before their bilateral meeting, saying the Taoiseach had now "seen with his own eyes" the consequences of Russian aggression.
Mr Varadkar praised Mr Zelensky for his "remarkable leadership" over the past two years, adding that, during his visit to Bucha, he came "face-to-face with the horror" of Russian actions.
The Taoiseach said the world needs to ensure that Ukraine succeeds in its war with Russia in order to discourage any other countries contemplating invasion.
Mr Varadkar also said that he "firmly believed" that Ukraine belonged in the EU.
He told Mr Zelensky that he would push for an early start to accession talks if Ukraine continued to make progress on meeting the bloc's criteria.
"It is as much your home as it is ours," the Taoiseach said. Mr Zelensky said accession talks should begin this year.
Mr Varadkar said that they are aware of a social media image of a downed Russian drone that had a Made In Ireland stamp on a particular part.
"We are aware of that, and we are investigating it at the moment," the Taoiseach said.
"We don't believe any Irish companies have evaded sanctions, but there are third parties that find ways around the sanctions, and it's really important that we crack down on that and we do take it very seriously."
Sirens wail across Kyiv in Russian drone attack
Hours before the Taoiseach arrived, air raid sirens wailed in the capital as Ukrainian air defence systems intercepted a series of Russian drone attacks on the city.
Under close-quarter protection from both the Ukrainian army and the elite Garda Emergency Response Unit, the massacre site in Bucha was Mr Varadkar's first visit.
He met family members of those killed by Russian troops during the earliest days of the invasion in Bucha, which has become synonymous with a series of Russian atrocities in Ukraine.
Earlier this month, a memorial with the names of 501 people killed in Bucha was unveiled in the district.
Mr Varadkar was greeted in Bucha by the General Prosecutor of Ukraine, who showed him a photographic exhibition of exhumations of the bodies that were conducted after Russian forces were repelled.
The Taoiseach laid a wreath to honour soldiers who had held off a Russian advance in Moschun, a suburban forest, in turn protecting Kyiv in the early days of the war.
The third site to be visited was close to Irpin, where Irish journalist Pierre Zakrzewski, who worked for Fox News, was killed, along with translator Oleksandra Kuvshynova.
The Taoiseach then visited Horenka, a residential district that was shelled and also hit by aerial bombardment by Russian forces.
One of the severely damaged apartment blocks now features a Banksy mural of a man taking a bath in the ruins.
The final stop before meeting the President was the Romanivsky bridge, where Ukrainian civilians attempting to flee Irpin in March of last year were shot at by Russian forces.
The bridge was blown up by the Ukrainian army to prevent a further Russian advance and is now being rebuilt.
Mr Varadkar was presented with a medal of a Ukrainian soldier who was killed defending the bridge.
This afternoon, the Taoiseach held talks with the Ukrainian Prime Minister Denys Shmyhall and the Speaker of the Rada, or parliament, Ruslan Stefanchuk.
He also meet members of the small Irish community in the Ukrainian capital.
Read more
Probe under way into drone with 'Made in Ireland' stamp - Varadkar
Varadkar meets Ukrainian actor attacked in Dublin last month
Taoiseach sees firsthand the cost of Russian invasion
