Uzhhorod | Jill Biden, the US first lady, travelled to western Ukraine in an unannounced trip on Sunday, the latest show of support from the United States, which in recent weeks has significantly increased military aid for Ukraine and sent others close to President Joe Biden into the country.

Ms Biden met Ukraine’s first lady, Olena Zelenska, at a school converted to assist refugees who had come from other parts of the country to Uzhhorod, a town of 100,000 people a few miles from the border with Slovakia. Ms Zelenska, wife of President Volodymyr Zelensky, had not been seen in public since Russia’s invasion began on February 24.