Prince Harry has made an unannounced trip to Ukraine, traveling by train from Poland to Kyiv just hours after meeting his father, King Charles III, in London.
The Duke of Sussex, who last visited Ukraine in April, said his return was motivated by a desire to support the recovery of thousands of soldiers and civilians affected by the three-year conflict with Russia.
“We cannot stop the war, but what we can do is everything possible to help the recovery process,” Harry said.
Humanitarian Mission
The visit forms part of his ongoing work with the Invictus Games Foundation, which he founded in 2014 to support wounded service personnel. During the trip, Harry is expected to highlight rehabilitation efforts and meet with staff at the Superhumans Trauma Centre in Lviv, an organisation he connected with after a chance meeting with its director, Olga Rudnieva, in New York.
“She told me the biggest impact would come from visiting Kyiv,” Harry explained. “I had to clear it with my wife and the British government before the official invitation came. Lviv is far from the fighting—this is the first time I’ll see the real destruction of the war.”
Context
Harry’s visit to the warzone came immediately after a 54-minute private tea with King Charles at Clarence House—their first face-to-face meeting in 19 months. His four-day stay in the UK also included charitable engagements such as attending the WellChild Awards.
The Duke said he hopes his presence in Ukraine will keep the conflict in the global spotlight.
“It’s easy to become desensitised to what’s happening,” he noted. “We need to continue to humanise the people involved in this war and remind the world what they’re going through.”
