France's Bastille Day parade showcases European support for Ukraine

Ukrainian fighter pilots and troops took pride of place in France's national Bastille Day celebrations Tuesday as a massive parade showcased support for Ukraine and symbolically flexed European military muscle.

On President Emmanuel Macron’s last Bastille Day as president, he hosted around 30 other leaders for an event that appeared aimed at showing both Russian President Vladimir Putin and US President Donald Trump that Europe is united and stepping up to defend itself.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky was given an ovation from the assembled European leaders as he arrived and his country's troops got the biggest cheers of the day from crowds on the tree-lined Champs-Élysées avenue. Zelensky and Macron shared repeated hugs at the end of the parade.

France's biggest national holiday coincided with raging forest fires and a red-alert heatwave that forced the cancellation of traditional fireworks and firefighters’ balls.