'We stand with Ukrainians' Yousaf says at war service

Humza Yousaf has said Scotland stands in "steadfast solidarity" with Ukraine, as he attended a service marking two years since Russia's invasion.

The first minister delivered a reading at Edinburgh Castle and lay a wreath alongside Andrii Kuslii from Edinburgh's Ukrainian consulate.

Dozens of Ukrainians who have settled in Edinburgh attended the service, some draped in their country's colours, as well as political and civic leaders.

Mr Yousaf laid a wreath and gave a reading of Matthew 5:13-16.

Speaking to media before the service, he said: "We stand with Ukrainians in Scotland to say with one voice that we stand in absolute steadfast solidarity with the government of Ukraine and with the people of Ukraine.

"They are fighting for not only for their freedom, not only for their sovereignty, they are actually fighting for all of our freedoms."

Among the Ukrainians present at the service were Denys, Oksana and Kateryna Rybalchenko who have been living in Scotland for a year and a half.

Oksana's husband - Deny's and Kateryna's father - was killed while fighting Russian forces.

The service ended with renditions of the Ukrainian national anthem and God Save The King.

Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine in 2022 followed the Kremlin's military intervention in the eastern Donbas region and its annexation of Crimea in 2014.

On Friday, the UK announced further sanctions against Russia.

Prime Minister Rishi Sunak, who visited Kyiv last month to sign a new security agreement and announce £2.5bn of military aid to Ukraine over the coming year, said "we must renew our determination" on this "grim anniversary".

Mr Yousaf said that while support from Westminster to Ukraine had been "steadfast" there should be further assistance.

"That support should be echoed by every country in Europe," he added.

In the last two years, Scotland has become a temporary home for many Ukrainians.

A group of 52 orphans known as the Dnipro kids arrived in Scotland in March 2022, and went on to live in small family-style groups around Edinburgh.

On Friday it was confirmed that Glasgow had twinned with the Ukrainian city of Mykolaiv in a show of solidarity and support.

An agreement on the relationship was signed by council leader Susan Aitken, Lord Provost Jacqueline McLaren and Mykolaiv’s City Mayor Oleksandr Syenkevych.

Mr Syenkevych said the city had been bombarded "almost continuously" over the last two years and that people did not have access to clean water as Russian forces had targeted water pipes.

Ms Aitken added that hundreds of Ukrainians had sought refuge in Glasgow and that the two cities would "build bonds of cooperation, collaboration and common purpose".

Earlier, Scottish Conservative leader Douglas Ross paid tribute to the "extraordinary" strength of the Ukrainian people.

"Our support for Ukraine must not waver. Putin cannot win," he said.

"My thoughts are with all those both in Ukraine and across the world who have been impacted by the conflict."

Scottish Lib Dem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton, who attended the service at Edinburgh Castle, said: "Two years on, there should be no let-up in British resolve.

"It is not an act of charity to supply Ukraine with the tools it needs to defeat Putin but one of self-interest."