Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has promised victory against Russia on the second anniversary of the invasion as his troops fight on despite a lack of Western aid and recent Russian gains.
"We will win," he said at a ceremony at Kyiv's Gostomel airport, which was targeted by Russia in the first days of the all-out assault in 2022.
He spoke alongside the Canadian, Italian and Belgian prime ministers and EU Commission chief Ursula von der Leyen who came to Kyiv to mark the date.
Ukraine's military chief Oleksandr Syrsky said he was confident of victory "because light always conquers darkness".
When Russian President Vladimir Putin announced a "special military operation" at dawn on 24 February 2022 many expected victory within days, but Ukraine fought back, forcing Russian troops into humiliating retreats.
Since then, however, Ukraine has suffered setbacks with the failure of its 2023 counteroffensive.
The Russian army has built up a position of strength by boosting its defence industry, while Ukraine's troops are short of manpower and running low on Western-supplied ammunition for artillery and air defences.
NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg urged Ukraine and its allies not to "lose heart" and Ms von der Leyen praised Ukraine's "extraordinary resistance" as she arrived in the Ukrainian capital.
Kyiv signed security agreements with Ottawa and Rome, with Canada saying it would provide a total of $2.2 billion in financial and military support in 2024.
"We will stand with Ukraine with whatever it takes, for as long as it takes," Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said in a statement.
German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock also visited Ukraine, arriving from Moldova and touring the southern port of Odesa alongside her Ukrainian counterpart Dmytro Kuleba, according to a reporter travelling with Ms Baerbock.
Speaking at the Palanca border crossing as the two ministers walked into Ukraine, Ms Baerbock said: "We could say this is a next step to European integration and into the European Union."
The European Union in December last year opened accession negotiations with Ukraine, which is also hoping to join the NATO military alliance.
But the overall picture remains bleak for Ukraine due to the US Congress blocking a vital €55 billion aid package, on top of delays in promised European deliveries.
Russia is attacking hard in the east after capturing the heavily fortified town of Avdiivka on 17 February.
Journalists in the east Ukraine mining town of Pokrovsk heard blasts sounding over the town, now dotted with damaged and abandoned buildings with boarded-up windows.
Troops there sent a clear message to the foreign leaders gathered in Kyiv.
"Give us artillery, drones, counter-battery, shells," said a 31-year-old Ukrainian soldier, who identified himself as Woodie.
"Our infantry, armed with assault rifles and grenades, were facing artillery, aircraft, and tanks," added a 39-year-old serviceman from Kyiv, who has been fighting for two years.
Russia has kept up its barrage of devastating drone and missile attacks on Ukraine's cities.
In the latest strikes, Ukrainian authorities said three civilians were killed in the eastern city of Dnipro and in Odesa overnight.
In Kyiv, the mood was grim.
"For women of Ukraine, this is our heartache -- for our husbands, for our children, for our fathers," said nutritionist Olga Byrko in Kyiv.
"I would really like this to end as quickly as possible."
Yuriy Pasichnyk, a 38-year-old businessman, said Ukrainians "have learned to live with it...now the war is our life".
Kyiv mayor Vitali Klitschko said air raid sirens had sounded 989 times in the capital over two years of war, an average of more than once a day.
Ukraine estimates the total number of civilians killed at around 50,000.
Neither side has given numbers for military deaths and injured, while both claim to have inflicted huge losses.
In August 2023, The New York Times quoted US officials as putting Ukraine's military losses at 70,000 dead and 100,000 to 120,000 injured.
Leaked US intelligence in December indicated that 315,000 Russian troops had been killed or wounded.
Russian Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu visited Moscow's forces in occupied Ukraine, the army said, telling them "in terms of the ratio of forces, the advantage is on our side".
Moscow has massively ramped up its arms production and received drones from Iran, while Kyiv says it has confirmed Russia's use of North Korean missiles.
The conflict has thrown Russia into even greater isolation from the West, with the United States and its allies imposing a slew of sanctions.
US President Joe Biden announced yet more sanctions against Russia to stop Putin's "war machine".
Former Russian president Dmitry Medvedev vowed Moscow would "take revenge". The Kremlin has used the war to rally patriotism and mount an even harsher crackdown on dissent.
Several people were detained at a protest in Moscow by wives of mobilised soldiers fighting in Ukraine asking for their loved ones to come home, according to independent media.
But on Moscow streets, most people said they backed the war.
"I'm proud of our men," said 27-year-old Nadezhda, an environmental engineer.
"Of course I am anxious for them, but it's a pleasant feeling that they are doing great, they are out there fighting for our country."
One of the few to give an alternative opinion was Konstantin, a drama teacher, who said: "I'm against any war. Two years have passed and it annoys me that people can't talk to each other and are still at war."
In a post on social media last night, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar also offered his support to Ukraine, writing: "This weekend marks the second anniversary of Putin's invasion of #Ukraine.
"We will fly the flag of Ukraine at Government Buildings on Saturday in solidarity. Ukraine is all that stands between a brutal tyrant, and the free Europe we all hold so dear. Slava Ukraine."
Tánaiste and Minister for Foreign Affairs Micheál Martin said in a post on X that Ireland "will not waver in support for Ukraine".
Today marks the second anniversary of Russia's full-scale invasion of #Ukraine. Ireland will not waver in support for Ukraine, or in determination to stand up and hold Russia to account. 🇺🇦 🇮🇪 pic.twitter.com/hFwUX50ScZ
— Micheál Martin (@MichealMartinTD) February 24, 2024
But the overall picture remains bleak for Ukraine due to the US Congress blocking a vital €55 billion aid package, on top of delays in promised European deliveries.
US President Joe Biden renewed calls for Republicans to unblock the additional funding, warning that "history is waiting" and "failure to support Ukraine at this critical moment will not be forgotten".
Still, Ukrainian officials voiced defiance on the anniversary.
"I am convinced that unity is our victory. And it will definitely happen. Because light always conquers darkness!" the Ukrainian army's chief Oleksandr Syrsky said on social media.
In Kyiv, the mood was grim but still defiant as people said they had grown accustomed to wartime conditions.
"For women of Ukraine, this is our heartache - for our husbands, for our children, for our fathers," said nutritionist Olga Byrko in Kyiv.
"I would really like this to end as quickly as possible."
Thousands of deaths
Ukraine needs almost half a trillion dollars to rebuild towns and cities destroyed by Russia's invasion, according to the latest estimate by the World Bank, European Union, United Nations and Ukrainian government.
Ukraine has estimated that around 50,000 civilians have been killed.
Neither side has given numbers for military deaths and injured, while both claim to have inflicted huge losses.
In Kyiv to mark the anniversary of the 2nd year of Russia's war on Ukraine.
— Ursula von der Leyen (@vonderleyen) February 24, 2024
And to celebrate the extraordinary resistance of the Ukrainian people.
More than ever, we stand firmly by Ukraine.
Financially, economically, militarily, morally.
Until the country is finally free. pic.twitter.com/ZLWMbOxVFh
Ms von der Leyen wrote on the social media platform X that she was in Kyiv "to celebrate the extraordinary resistance of the Ukrainian people".
She added: "More than ever, we stand firmly by Ukraine. Financially, economically, militarily, morally.Until the country is finally free."
Ms Meloni and Mr Trudeau are expected to sign security pacts with Mr Zelensky during their brief stay, in line with deals recently agreed with France and Germany that are worth billions of dollars.
Seeking to maintain Western focus on Ukraine, even as the war between Israel and Hamas dominates headlines, Mr Zelensky has warned that Russia, led by President Vladimir Putin, may not stop at Ukraine's borders if it emerges victorious.
Mr Putin dismisses such claims as nonsense. He casts the war as a wider struggle with the United States, which the Kremlin elite says aims to cleave Russia apart. The West sees the invasion as an unjustified act of aggression that must be repelled.
Two years after the Russian regime launched its invasion of Ukraine, Canada's support for the Ukrainian people remains steadfast.
— Justin Trudeau (@JustinTrudeau) February 24, 2024
To reaffirm that support, I’m in Kyiv with @CAFreeland and @BillBlair. We’ll be able to share more updates later – so keep checking back.
War crimes investigated
Ukraine's prosecutor general said yesterday that it had launched investigations into more than 122,000 suspected war crimes cases in the last two years. Russia denies carrying them out.
The initial shock of the invasion gradually morphed into familiarity and then fatigue, as the world watched initial Russian gains and a stunning Ukrainian counteroffensive in late 2022 slow into grinding, attritional trench warfare.
In scenes reminiscent of the battlefields of World War I, soldiers under heavy artillery fire are dying in their thousands, sometimes for a few kilometres of land.
Both sides have developed huge and increasingly sophisticated fleets of air, sea and land drones for surveillance and attack, an unprecedented use of unmanned vehicles that could point the way to future conflicts.
Russia, with a much bigger population to replenish the army's ranks and a larger military budget, might favour a drawn-out war, although the costs have been huge for Moscow as it seeks to navigate sanctions and a growing reliance on China.
Ukraine's position is more precarious. Villages, towns and cities have been razed, troops are exhausted, ammunition is running low and Russian missiles and drones rain down almost daily.
Russia this month registered its biggest victory in nine months, capturing the eastern town of Avdiivka and ending months of deadly urban combat.
Tens of thousands of troops have been killed on both sides and tens of thousands more wounded, while thousands of Ukrainian civilians have perished.
The scale of devastation in Ukraine is staggering.
A recent World Bank study said that rebuilding Ukraine's economy could cost nearly €460 billion. Two million housing units have been damaged or destroyed, and nearly six million people have fled abroad.
In addition to raising money and arms to continue the war, Mr Zelensky is pushing legislation through parliament allowing Ukraine to mobilise up to half a million more troops - a target some economists say could paralyse the economy.
Russia's finances have proved resilient so far to unprecedented sanctions. While natural gas exports have slumped, shipments of oil have held up, thanks largely to Indian and Chinese buying.
Russia's GDP expanded 3.6% in 2023, although some Russia-based economists warned that this was driven by a leap in defence spending and that stagnation or recession loom.
That will not jeopardise Mr Putin's victory in elections in March, which he is set to win by a landslide amid broad support for his performance and for the war, described by the Kremlin as a "special military operation".
In the last two years, authorities have cracked down hard on any form of dissent over the conflict. On 16 February, Mr Putin's most formidable domestic opponent, Alexei Navalny, died in an Arctic penal colony where he was serving a 30-year sentence.
Yesterday, Mr Putin addressed troops fighting in Ukraine as Russia marked Defender of the Fatherland Day, hailing them as heroes battling for "truth and justice."
He laid a wreath at the tomb of the unknown soldier at the foot of the Kremlin wall to honour those who have died in battle.
