"I am honoured," Meloni said as she got off the train in Kyiv.
"I think it is my duty to be here to reiterate the position of the Italian government and perhaps also to personally understand what a people fighting for its freedom needs.
"It's always different when you see things with your own eyes and I think it (this visit) also helps the Italian people to understand.
"I'm curious and determined to understand what this people needs".
Her visit comes just days before the first anniversary of the Russian invasion.
Meloni's first stop following her arrival was Bucha, on the outskirts of Kyiv, where she paid homage to the civilians who were massacred there in the early days of the invasion.
The nation's leader was visibly moved as she heard first-hand stories of the atrocities.
After seeing a small exhibition of photos of the horrors of the massacre, Meloni asked her interpreter to translate the message - "you are not alone".
"You can count on Italy," Meloni told Ukrainian officials in Bucha.
"We have been with you since the start and we will be until the end.
"You have all our support.
"We will combat for you and your freedom"
The premier visited Bucha's Orthodox St Andrew's church and laid a wreath to victims who were buried in a mass grave there.
Local officials gave Meloni a medal made out of used bullets and she carefully read the inscription on the back - "City Not Conquered".
Meloni then headed to Irpin, another city where civilians were murdered by Russian forces.
In Irpin she said that Russian President Vladimir Putin's propaganda about the war in Ukraine was disproven by the evidence on the ground.
"What we heard this morning (in Putin's speech) was propaganda that we already know," Meloni said.
"The facts are different.
"It is one thing to talk about numbers, its another to see for yourself the lives of people destroyed for no reason," she continued.
"It is different. It is worth seeing..
After visiting Irpin, Meloni returned to Kyiv, where she had talks with Ukrainian President Volodymir Zelensky.
ANSA
