Prince Harry has made a surprise visit to Kyiv to pledge his support for Ukrainian soldiers injured in the country’s war against Russia.
The Duke of Sussex was invited by the Ukrainian government as he said he aims to do “everything possible” to help the thousands of wounded military personnel, according to reports.
Alongside a team from his Invictus Games Foundation – which was founded by Harry in 2014 to enable injured veterans to take part in sporting events – the duke is set to outline new projects that will support the wounded in Kyiv in their rehabilitation. The initiatives are expected to later be rolled out across the country.
According to the European Disability Forum, as of February, 300,000 people had been left disabled as a result of the war.
Harry’s surprise trip to the Ukrainian capital comes following his four-day stay in the UK, during which he saw his father the King for the first time in almost two years.
The duke told the Guardian on an overnight train to Kyiv: “We cannot stop the war but what we can do is do everything we can to help the recovery process.”
He continued: “We can continue to humanise the people involved in this war and what they are going through. We have to keep it in the forefront of people’s minds. I hope this trip will help to bring it home to people because it’s easy to become desensitised to what has been going on.”
Harry visited the Diana Award in central London on Thursday morning for a final engagement in the UK, where he heard from young people about how social action has positively impacted their mental health.
In an impromptu speech, the duke said people of all ages were having their mental and emotional health tested every day and described how young people can feel isolated if “lost and separated from a group”.
The duke has previously expressed his hopes of reconciliation with his family amid his belief they may never forgive him after his public accusations.
In a move being viewed as a significant, but tentative step towards repairing their troubled relationship, Harry joined Charles for a private tea late on Wednesday afternoon, spending 54 minutes with his father at Clarence House after not seeing him face to face for 19 months.
The duke, however, remains estranged from the Prince of Wales.
The once-close brothers’ long-standing rift shows no sign of healing, with the pair not meeting during Harry’s stay.
However, the duke’s spokesperson said he had “loved” being back in the UK and “catching up with old friends” and colleagues.
Harry said it was Olga Rudnieva, the founder and CEO of the Superhumans Trauma Centre in Lviv, who initially encouraged him to travel to Kyiv, after he ran into her in the US a couple of months ago, having visited her centre in April.
He explained: “I bumped into Olga in New York. It was a chance meeting, and I asked her what I could do to help. She said, ‘The biggest impact you have is coming to Kyiv.’ I had to check with my wife and the British government to make sure it was okay. Then the official invitation came.
“In Lviv, you don’t see much of the war. It is so far west. This is the first time we will see the real destruction of the war.”
Although Ukraine first competed in the biennial Invictus Games in 2017, the conflict with Russia has sparked greater interest in and need for the event.
Recalling the welcome the Ukrainian team was given at the competition in The Hague two years ago, Harry told the newspaper: “It was remarkable. Every one of the participants had a journey to get to those games, but nobody from any of the other competing nations was going back to war. That is why the Ukrainians stood out. Everyone felt an immense connection to them. Some of the competitors were being pulled off the battlefield and were going back to the battlefield. It means so much to us, because it means so much to them.”
During his trip, the prince is also set to visit the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War, meet with 200 veterans, and see Ukrainian prime minister Yulia Svyrydenko.
Harry said his stay in Kyiv will enable him to spend time with veterans as well as witness some of the destruction firsthand.
While the games are its primary focus, the foundation has been working on providing other opportunities for rehabilitation, such as providing sports equipment across Ukraine.
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