India, July 16 -- European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen went to Kyiv on Wednesday to mark Ukraine's annual Statehood Day, pledging continued military and financial support for the country's independence as it holds out against Russia's 4-year-old full-scale invasion.

Ukraine's sovereignty has been threatened since Russian forces occupied Ukraine's Crimea in 2014 and Moscow illegally annexed the peninsula, followed eight years later by the all-out invasion of February 2022. Statehood Day, celebrating the country's self-determination, is a public holiday in Ukraine.

The war has killed thousands of soldiers and civilians, forced millions to flee their homes, reduced Ukrainian cities to rubble and fueled fears the confrontation...