This is the emotional moment a D-Day veteran embraces President Volodymyr Zelensky and tells him ‘you’re the saviour of the people’ at the ceremony to mark 80 years since the historic landings.
The Ukrainian president, disagrees however, telling the veteran, ‘no, you saved Europe’ in front of a cheering crowd on Omaha Beach, France, earlier today.
The veteran then asks President Zelensky if he can have a picture as the Ukrainian leader crouches down to embrace him.
Zelenksy was joined by a host of other world leaders including US president Joe Biden, France’s Emmanuel Macron and Canada’s Justin Trudeau at the international event today.
Macron praised the Ukranian president’s presence at the ceremony, telling the crowd: ‘
‘We are all children of the landings’
This is the emotional moment a D-Day veteran embraces President Volodymyr Zelensky
The Ukrainian president, disagrees however, telling the veteran, ‘no, you saved Europe’ in front of a cheering crowd on Omaha Beach, France, earlier today
The veteran then asks President Zelensky if he can have a picture as the Ukrainian leader crouches down to embrace him
Zelenksy was joined by a host of other world leaders including US president Joe Biden, France’s Emmanuel Macron and Canada’s Justin Trudeau at the international event today
‘When we look at those who want to change borders by force to rewrite history, let us stand with dignity and look at those who landed here. Let us have their courage.
‘Here, President of Ukraine, your presence here today shows us this in a very forceful way.’
Zelensky was also filmed meeting a number of other veterans at the event.
One veteran told the Ukranian president: ‘We are very much inspired by your principles.’
Zelenksy then replies: ‘Thank you so much. I hope you feel very good. All the best.’
Prince William stepped in for his father to thank veterans for fighting for freedom as he represented Britain at the ceremony.
The 41-year-old is deputising for his father King Charles at the major event while His Majesty continues to recover after undergoing treatment for cancer earlier this year.
The monarch had been present at the British Normandy Memorial in Ver-sur-Mer earlier in the day, paying tribute to the ‘remarkable wartime generation’ who put their lives on the line to end the Nazi occupation of Europe.
Zelenksy is greeted by a standing ovation at the ceremony to mark 80 years since the D-Day landings
The Prince of Wales has joined world leaders to mark the historic event on its 80th anniversary
The Prince of Wales (left) talks to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky as world leaders gathered to remember the D-Day landings
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife Olena Zelenska, arrive at the international ceremony at Omaha Beach
The Prince of Wales meets the President of Ukraine, Volodymyr Zelenskyy as they attend the International commemorative ceremony at Omaha Beach
However, he and Queen Camilla have decided not attend the international commemorative ceremony in Saint-Laurent-sur-Mer which is 20 miles (32km) away, giving his eldest son and heir to the throne William a chance to shine.
Charles led a crowd of 2,000 people, which included Prime Minister Rishi Sunak and French President Emmanuel Macron in a poignant silent prayer to remember those no longer with us, while memories of those who were on the beaches 80 years ago were also read out.
Those veterans in attendance were presented with white roses by French schoolchildren while cadets waved flags, and received multiple standing ovations during the two-hour-long service, before shaking hands and exchanging words with His Majesty.
Photographs also show William greeting Zelensky as they attended the ceremony on Omaha Beach earlier today.
Earlier in the day William gave a speech at Juno Beach praising the actions of Canadian troops who stormed the seafront on D-Day
President Macron and his wife Brigitte and President Biden and his wife Jill arrive at the official commemoration event on Thursday
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky and French President Emmanuel Macron link hands as they arrive at the ceremony
Ahead of the meeting William surprised veterans and people who had gathered in Arromanches, also known as Gold Beach, to mark the milestone.
The Prince, who was gifted a pin by one veteran in the seaside town and saw others pass along their well wishes to his father, stopped at the French town’s D-day museum following his speech at the Canadian commemoration ceremony earlier in the day.
In Arramanches William told a group of British veterans how ‘moving’ the commemorations have been as he made the surprise stop in the town.
Veteran Julian Heal, 52, from Bristol, said: ‘He [told us] ‘it’s all about the veterans’, and people are getting older, and there’s not many left on that, and he just said about how moving it was, especially the new monument on top of the hill.’
Mr Heal, who served in Northern Ireland, added: ‘As a veteran it’s really good because he gets us, we have a good laugh, real approachable guy.’
It comes as the number of surviving D-Day veterans continues to dwindle as the years go by, with fewer attending this year’s commemorative events than ever before.
At the 75th anniversary of the D-Day landings the Royal British Legion (RBL) took 255 veterans back to Normandy on a chartered ship, while this year only 23 will make the trip with the charity.
Around 50 British D-Day veterans are expected to be at events in Normandy today, and there have been emotional scenes as those who are well enough to make the journey have gathered in northern France.
D-Day veterans Albert Keir (second left), Stan Ford (third left), Alec Penstone (centre), and Alan Kennett (right) arrive for the D-Day parade with a Royal Guard Of Honour
Alan Kennett, Stan Ford, and Albert Keir sing ‘Auld Lang Syne’ during a parade with a Royal Guard Of Honour in Arromanches-les-Bains
A British veteran holds his hand in a ‘V for victory’ sign as he poses with his medals in Arromanches, France as he commemorates the D-Day anniversary
The father-of-three spent time after his speech listening to the veterans on the 80th anniversary of the Normandy landings
A total of 22,442 service personnel under British command died on D-day and during the Battle of Normandy in the summer of 1944.
Nigel Steel, senior curator at the Imperial War Museum, said it is important to ‘make the most’ of having D-Day veterans as their numbers dwindle.
He told MailOnline: ‘The presence of a veterans is special for us and I think we do need to make the most of that because we know that it’s only a matter of time [before they’re no longer there].
‘When the veterans are there it’s great because we can listen to them and we’re kind of enamored by the veterans as much as the event.
‘But without the veterans, as we are now doing with the First World War, we can still talk about it and remember it and appreciate the significance and remember the veterans as part of that historical memory.
‘They [veterans] are so fascinating to us because they were actually there and in their heads are the real memories and all we can do is talk to them and pick this up second hand.
‘I think that’s the great thing about talking to veterans is that you feel your as close to the events as you can ever possibly be.
‘You’ve kind of got a direct line back to those events because they were actually there and they were there witnessing and taking part in them.
‘So that’s why we need to make the most of it while they’re still here but whilst we’re talking to them we need to store up those memories so that we can then share them with the next generations who don’t have the privilege of meeting them in person.’
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