France, May 29 -- Ukraine's Antonina Samoilova unfurled her country's flag on Mount Everest earlier this month as Nepal opened its mountains to foreign climbers and set up a new airport to boost its lifeline tourism business which went into deep freeze during the pandemic.

"Stand with Ukraine," read the blue-and-yellow state flag which the 33-year-old unfurled at the summit of the29,030-foot Everest, drawing the attention of international climbers on the world's tallest peak.

"My main message for the climb was ... that Ukrainian people are still fighting for their freedom, for their future and we need help from all the sides," addedSamoilova later in Kathmandu.

She wasthe only Ukrainian who took on MountEverest this year.

Ukraine had ...