France celebrated Bastille Day on Tuesday with a special show of solidarity with Ukraine. 

A massive parade was held in front of French President Emmanuel Macron and other high-level guests in Paris.

The event features European troops and warplanes from the "Coalition of the Willing" in support of Ukraine, which has been fending off Russia's ongoing invasion. 

French fighter jets flew over the Champs Elysees avenue with trails of the French national colors of blue, white and red behind them.

It was Macron's last Bastille Day as president. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy attended the celebrations as a special guest.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz, British Prime Minister Keir Starmer, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, NATO chief Mark Rutte and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen were also in attendance.  

US President Donald Trump, who had attended an earlier Bastille Day celebration in person with Macron, sent his wishes to the French leader in a social media post.

It comes as the US, which was aided by France its fight for independence from the British, celebrates its 250th anniversary.   

"As we look toward the next 250 years, the United States looks forward to deepening its relations with France, guided by our shared commitment to freedom, peace and prosperity," Trump said.   

Bastille Day celebrations this year amid sweltering temperatures

The holiday comes as France has grappled with multiple deadly heatwaves this year. Paris on Wednesday is expected to witness temperatures as high as 34 degrees Celsius (94 degrees Fahrenheit). 

Forest fires are occurring south of Paris near Fontainebleau and in other parts of the country. 

This year's Bastille Day event comes exactly 10 years after a terrorist attack in Nice in south of France.

In 2016, a cargo truck drove into a crowd of people celebrating Bastille Day on Nice's promenade by the Mediterranean Sea, killing 86 people. The attack, which was carried out by a Tunisian living in France, was claimed by the so-called "Islamic State" (IS) group.  

Bastille Day, which is known as la fete nationale francaise, is marked on the 14 of July each year, to remember the storming of the the Bastille in 1789. The Bastille is a medieval fortress and prison, and the storming of the royal facility was a key moment during the French Revolution. 

Edited by: Zac Crellin

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