Jodie Haydon, Anthony Albanese’s partner, sobbed as she said the prime minister farewell before he left for Ukraine.
Before he quietly left for the war-torn nation from Paris at the weekend, the two gave each other one last hug.
The Prime Minister was embraced by Ms. Haydon, who was then seen taking a few deep breaths and being consoled by a Labor staff member as the Prime Minister walked away.
She had gone to Paris with Mr. Albanese as he attempted to mend fences with President Emmanuel Macron following Scott Morrison’s cancellation of the $90 billion contract to purchase French-made submarines.
Under extremely strict security, Mr. Albanese traveled to Ukraine with a group that included three media personnel. There were at least 12 armed Australian Special Forces personnel on the scene to help.
In case of an emergency, the convoy of vehicles for the party had medical supplies, body armor, and firearms.
In full military gear, Ukrainian special troops followed the prime minister everywhere he went.
To pay his respects in a mass grave where 416 victims were buried by Russian soldiers after being killed, Mr. Albanese first traveled to Bucha.
‘Bucha is now a notorious name,’ local council head Tars Shaprovskiy told him.
‘This is a very sad place.
‘Every one of them shot. This was not collateral damage, this was intentional.
‘One of the slaughterhouses was a summer camp. There were four volunteers there. They were all shot.’
Mr Albanese told him: ‘Australia shares your desire to seek justice for these war crimes, and we will continue to do so’.
The grave, behind the town’s Church of St Andrews, has become a pilgrimage site for visiting dignitaries.
In a chapel underneath the church, Mr Albanese joined the congregation, lighting a candle for the victims of the massacre.
Mr Albanese travelled in an armoured LandCruiser. Local traffic was blocked wherever his party went, with soldiers and police stationed along the route.
Central Kyiv is substantially intact, but prominent buildings are protected by concrete blocks and sandbags, and massive welded steel road spikes are stationed at important entryways, ready to be used if the city is ever targeted again.
Hotels and several businesses have reopened. Even a small number of visitors were wandering around close to the Intercontinental Hotel, which served as the headquarters of operations for Mr. Albanese’s squad.
However, 30 minutes north of the city, there are blatant indications of conflict, including blown-out buildings, missile craters, smashed windows, piled-up burned-out automobile wrecks, and sandbagged foxholes hidden by woods.
Mr. Albanese visited the destroyed Hostomel Airport before meeting with President Volodymyr Zelenskiy on Sunday afternoon. The airport was the target of a botched Russian paratrooper attack during the early stages of the invasion, which was intended to secure the location so that a surge in troops and supplies could arrive by air.
He shook his head as he examined the ruins of the Antonov Mriya, often known as “The Dream,” which formerly held the record for biggest airplane in history.
He addressed men of the national guard unit who had to repel a concerted Russian assault to allow helicopters to land at the airfield, which would have altered the outcome of the conflict.
As he left, they gave him a model of the famous Antonov plane.
As a former minister of aviation, Mr. Albanese expressed his gratitude for the gift and promised to give the model “pride of place” in his prime ministerial office.
Additionally, the PM has pledged to provide Ukraine an additional $100 million in military help and 34 more armored vehicles.
The additional $99.5 million is in addition to the $285 million in military aid that was previously announced and included 40 Bushmaster and artillery pieces as well as $65 million in humanitarian aid.
Australia has already provided roughly $390 million in aid to Ukraine.
Mr Albanese also announced a ban on imports of Russian gold and sanctions and travel bans on 16 more Russian ministers and oligarchs, bringing the total number to 843 individuals and 62 entities targeted.
Meeting with Mr Zelenskiy, the prime minister reaffirmed Australia’s support for Ukraine and promised to back the nation.
‘I pay tribute to the courage, resilience, bravery and determination of you as the leader of Ukraine, of your defence force, but importantly as well of your entire population who are determined to stand up to a bully which is breaching international law without any provocation or any excuse,’ Mr Albanese said.
‘Australia stands ready to continue to support the government and the people of Ukraine for as long as it takes for Ukraine to emerge victorious in defence of your national sovereignty and your homeland.’
Australia is the largest non-NATO contributor to the effort to support Ukraine, which was invaded by Russia in February.
Mr Albanese is expected to arrive back in Australia on Tuesday.
