Ceremonies highlighting the UK’s solidarity with Ukraine are taking place to mark the country’s 35th year of independence.

Andy Burnham will lead ministers in paying tribute to war-torn Ukraine’s fight for freedom. 

Today, parts of Westminster and Whitehall will be lit up in the blue and yellow of the nation’s flag.

Defence Secretary Wes Streeting, who will attend a candle-lit event at the Ukrainian Cathedral of the Holy Family in London on Monday, said on Sunday night: ‘Thirty-five years ago, Ukraine chose independence. 

Over more than a decade, Putin’s illegal war has tried and failed to destroy Ukraine’s freedom. We stand proudly with Ukraine.’

Elsewhere, the PM will lead a meeting of the Coalition of the Willing group of pro-Ukrainian countries, with French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz.

Ukraine voted for independence in 1991 after the Soviet Union collapsed.