D-Day veteran calls Zelensky ‘savior of the people’ at Normandy event

• A D-Day veteran and Ukraine’s president Zelenskyy shared a moment at the 80th anniversary event in Normandy.
• The veteran called Zelenskyy a “savior of the people” and told him he prays for him.
• Western leaders on Thursday commemorated the monumental 1944 amphibious invasion. 

At an event commemorating the 80th anniversary of the D-Day invasion, a veteran shared a moment with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy.

A video captured the two hugging and talking, with the veteran calling Zelenskyy “the savior of the people” and telling him he prays for him amid the third year of Russia’s brutal war in Ukraine.

In the video, shared online during Thursday’s anniversary event in Normandy, France, the veteran and Zelenskyy shook hands and shared a hug.

“You’re the savior of the people,” the veteran said, telling Zelenskyy it brings tears to his eyes. The Ukrainian president responded: “No, no, you saved Europe.”

The two then held hands for a moment and continued talking, each calling the other a hero. The veteran then told Zelenskyy, “I pray for you,” while the crowd cheered on.

It was a powerful moment at the anniversary event at Omaha Beach, where 80 years earlier American troops rushed ashore to confront Nazi Germany, their compatriots and allies hitting other beaches at great cost.

In addition to Zelenskyy, Thursday’s event was attended by Western leaders such as French President Emmanuel Macron and US President Joe Biden.

In a speech talking about the fateful events of June 6, 1944, Macron referenced the war in Ukraine and thanked Ukrainians for their bravery, telling them: “We are here and won’t back away.”

Biden made similar remarks. “In their generation, in their hour of trial, the Allied forces of D-Day did their duty,” he said to dozens of World War II veterans at the Normandy American Cemetery. “Now the question for us is, in our hour of trial, will we do ours?”