During his trip to Ukraine, Johnson visited Borodyanka and Bucha, the suburbs of the Ukrainian capital that became a byword for atrocities in the West when Russian forces drove towards Kyiv in the first phase of the invasion before being repelled.

In Kyiv, Johnson was personally welcomed by Zelenskiy and a row of top officials including the foreign minister and the head of the president's office who lined up in a yard near the presidential administration in the heart of the city.