Prince Harry has made an unannounced visit to Kyiv following an invitation from the Ukrainian government, expressing his commitment to aiding the recovery of thousands of military personnel seriously injured in the three-year war against Russia. The Duke of Sussex and a team from his Invictus Games Foundation are set to outline new initiatives to support the rehabilitation of the wounded, with the eventual goal of extending assistance across the country.
Speaking to the Guardian on an overnight train to the capital, Prince Harry said: “We cannot stop the war but what we can do is do everything we can to help the recovery process.” He added: “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.”
The prince revealed that the visit was prompted by a chance meeting in New York with Olga Rudnieva, founder of the Superhumans Trauma Centre in Lviv, which treats wounded amputees. After checking with his wife and the British government, he accepted the official invitation. “In Lviv, you don’t see much of the war. This is the first time we will see the real destruction of the war,” he said.
Ukraine first participated in the Invictus Games in 2017, but enthusiasm for the competition—founded by Prince Harry in 2014 for wounded veterans—has grown dramatically since the conflict with Russia began. The Duke recalled the reception Ukraine’s team received at the games in The Hague two years ago, noting that unlike other competitors, Ukrainian participants were returning to the battlefield.
During his visit, Prince Harry is due to tour the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War and meet with 200 veterans. He is also scheduled to meet Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko. The biennial Invictus Games have been a focal point of the foundation’s work, but it has increasingly focused on sports recovery programmes beyond the main games, including providing sports equipment in Ukraine.
Natalia Kalmykova, Ukraine’s Minister for Veterans Affairs, said sport had become “a key function in veterans’ healthcare,” thanks to the relationship with the Invictus Games Foundation. By March this year, more than 22,000 veterans across Ukraine had accessed benefits such as gym memberships and pool passes.
