Prince Harry makes surprise visit to Ukraine to support wounded veterans

Prince Harry has made a surprise visit to Ukraine after reuniting with his father, the King, in London.

The Duke of Sussex said he would do “everything possible” to help Ukrainian veterans injured in the country’s war with Russia.

This follows an invitation from the Kyiv government.

The visit is part of Harry’s work with the Invictus Games, which supports wounded soldiers.

The prince said: “I had to check with my wife and the British government to make sure it was ok.” 

He added: “We cannot stop the war, but what we can do is do everything we can to help the recovery process.

“We can continue to humanize 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 desensitized to what has been going on.”

Harry traveled to Kyiv with a team from his Invictus Games Foundation following an invitation from the Ukrainian government and is set to outline new plans to help rehabilitate the wounded, according to the Guardian.

It is understood the duke has a busy schedule during the day, but details are yet to be disclosed for security reasons. 

Harry said he was first invited to Kyiv by the founder and chief executive of the Superhumans Trauma Centre in Lviv, Ukraine, which treats amputees.

He visited the center in April but met founder Olga Rudnieva by chance again in the US, the Guardian reported.

He said he asked Ms Rudnieva how he could help, and “she said ‘the biggest impact you have is coming to Kyiv’”.

This comes just days after the Ukrainian capital was hit in a Russian attack, which also saw drones shot down by Poland in a major escalation.

Harry met King Charles for the first time in a year and a half after a series of engagements during his UK trip. 

The pair’s long-awaited meeting, which lasted just 54 minutes, follows Harry’s public expression of hopes for a reconciliation with his family in May.

Asked how his father was by a reporter shortly after arriving at the Invictus reception, Harry replied: “Yes, he’s great, thank you.”

On Wednesday, the Sussexes’ charitable foundation Archewell announced it had donated 500,000 US dollars (£369,000) to projects supporting injured children from Gaza and Ukraine.

The grants from Archewell will be used to help the World Health Organization with medical evacuations and also to fund work developing prosthetics for youngsters seriously hurt in the conflicts.

The announcement coincided with Harry’s visit to the Centre for Blast Injury Studies at Imperial College London, where he heard more about its work focusing on injuries suffered by children and those sustained in natural disasters.