United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres was in Kyiv on Thursday, April 28, to meet Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.
Unlike US Secretary of State Antony J Blinken and US Secretary of Defense General Lloyd J Austin III, who traveled to Kyiv earlier this week, but did not tour war-torn areas in Ukraine, Guterres visited several towns around Kyiv heavily damaged by Russian forces in their failed bid to take the Ukrainian capital.
Please click on the images for glimpses of the UN chief's visit to war torn Ukraine.
IMAGE: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres visits Irpin, outside of Kyiv. Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters
IMAGE: Guterres at the Irpinsky Lipky residential complex, which was heavily damaged during fighting.
Under protection from Ukrainian troops, the UN secretary-general visited several towns around Kyiv heavily damaged by Russian forces in their failed bid to take the Ukrainian capital. Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images
IMAGE: Guterres visits the town of Borodianka outside of Kyiv. Photograph: Gleb Garanich/Reuters
IMAGE: Guterres in Irpin. Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images
IMAGE: The UN chief views war destruction at the Irpinsky Lipky residential complex. Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images
IMAGE: At the start of the Russian invasion, Guterres had told Vladimir Putin: 'President Putin, In the name of humanity bring your troops back to Russia. In the name of humanity, do not allow to start in Europe what could be the worst war since the beginning of the century, with consequences not only devastating for Ukraine, not only tragic for the Russian Federation and for the entire world.'
The UN secretary-general's words went unheeded in the Kremlin.Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images
IMAGE: The UN secretary-general, surrounded by media, visits the site of Russian destruction. Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images
Photographs curated by Manisha Kotian/Rediff.com
Feature Presentation: Aslam Hunani/ Rediff.com