Ukrainian soldiers record tributes from the frontline Stars mourn in black on the red carpet
AMONG the thousands of filmed tributes to our late Queen, it is surely one of the more remarkable – given the circumstances in which it was made.
‘Dear brothers and sisters from Great Britain, the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II is a tremendous loss to the whole civilised world,’ the young man begins.
‘She was more than the Queen of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, she was the Queen of her Age. Her Majesty had battled evil 80 years ago, fighting the Nazi threat. Nowadays we fight a new threat to the whole of the civilised world.’
Why remarkable? Because the social media eulogy is being delivered by a Ukrainian soldier in full camouflage and body armour, travelling at speed in a jeep along a forest track near Kharkiv.
He is taking part in the counter-offensive that this weekend recaptured huge swathes of territory as the Russian frontline collapsed.
His message ends: ‘Please accept these condolences from all Ukrainian warriors. God save the King!’ And so into battle he goes.
Perhaps no other country outside the Commonwealth had revered the Queen as much as Ukraine, nor responded with such genuine sadness and regret following her death on Thursday.
She was seen to represent not only particular values of decency and civilisation, but Britain’s outstanding support
‘We remember her support’
of Ukraine following the Russian invasion in February. That the support also came from her own private pocket too was noted.
In March, the Disasters Emergency Committee, representing the British Red Cross and 14 other groups, thanked the Queen for ‘making a generous donation’ to its Ukraine appeal.
Other subtle signs of her sympathy for their cause were recognised by Kyiv. A bouquet of blue and yellow flowers – the Ukrainian national colours – featured prominently in photographs when the Queen received Canadian prime minister Justin Trudeau at Windsor Castle.
In May, during one of her last public appearances, the Queen chose to wear an outfit of the same colours.
This moved Denys Shmyhal, the Ukrainian prime minister, to post on social media: ‘Ukraine will warmly remember the priceless support of Her Majesty.’
Having spent several months in Ukraine since the Russian invasion I can attest to her standing there. On a number of occasions at military checkpoints in far-flung places, my British credentials elicited the same warm greeting from soldiers: ‘God save the Queen.’
In recent days there have been other tributes to her from the Ukrainian military.
An artillery unit has been decorating the casing of the shells it is to fire at Russian positions with messages to record their ‘sincere gratitude and respect to the remarkable leader of a great nation’.
One read ‘RIP Queen Elizabeth II’, another ‘glory to the Queen’. Since Thursday a growing number of floral tributes and messages have been left outside the UK’s embassy in central Kyiv. One of the messages, in both Ukrainian and English, read: ‘With great gratitude and respect to Her Majesty the Queen for supporting the Ukrainian nation in the struggle for the right to exist.’
One of the many bouquets came with a note: ‘Condolences from the residents of Hostomel.’ This is the Kyiv satellite town and airport bitterly fought over from the first day of the war until April.
Evidence of that long-standing Ukrainian admiration can be found on the gable end of a house in the village of Yelyzavetivka, near Dnipro.
In the summer of 2019 a huge mural portrait of the Queen was unveiled there. The name of the village – which was struck by Russian missiles only last month – derives from the Ukrainian name Yelyzaveta which translates into English as ‘Elizabeth’.
Now Ukrainians, as the infantryman’s tribute suggested, are looking to King Charles for continuity. The mutual admiration between an embattled nation and the British monarch looks set to remain firm.
‘Great gratitude and respect’
CATE Blanchett was one of many Hollywood stars who marked the Queen’s death by wearing black at the weekend.
The actress, 53, wore a one-shoulder gown for Saturday’s closing ceremony of the Venice Film Festival, where Julianne Moore, 61, and Jessica Brown Findlay, 32, were also in black. Meanwhile, at the Toronto International Film Festival, Lily James, 33, and Jennifer Lawrence, 32, were among those choosing all-black ensembles for premieres on Saturday. Daniel Craig, 54, was also in Toronto – in a pastel suit with a white buttonhole flower whose stem was wrapped in black. The 007 star recalled filming his 2012 Olympics sketch with the Queen, telling the BBC: ‘What an incredible thing. We will not see the likes of her ever again. To be alive during her reign is something else.’