Prince Harry recently made a surprise visit to Kyiv following an invitation by an organisation that supports Ukrainians with life-changing injuries caused by the war via BBC.
The Duke of Sussex had arrived by train and stated that he wanted to do “everything possible” to help the recovery of injured military personnel.
Superhumans, which helps provide those injured with prosthetic limbs and rehabilitation, told the BBC that it invited Prince Harry to Ukraine.
Founder Olha Rudnieva had greeted the prince off the train with a hug, a video released by Ukrainian Railways showed. She also handed the prince a podstakannik – a silver holder for a glass used to drink tea, traditionally provided on night trains across Ukraine.
Harry visited a centre run by the organisation in Lviv in April, but this is his first visit to the capital.
There are tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians with amputations as a result of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, numbers vary, as Ukraine doesn’t give precise statistics on military casualties.
Among the people Harry met was war veteran Vasyl Tamulis, who told the Reuters news agency: “My main goal was to get a photograph with him because not many people have a photograph with [a] prince.”
“Being selected for Invictus Games unites people and motivates because it is a very difficult selection process,” he added, referring to the international multi-sport competition Harry set up for injured and sick military service personnel – both serving and veterans.
UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper visited Kyiv on Friday, where she announced an additional £142 million in UK aid to support Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and assist vulnerable communities. During this visit, she also revealed that 100 new sanctions would be imposed to further impact Russia’s economy and military supplies.
Cooper met with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky, Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko, and Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha. The UK Foreign Office stated that this visit reaffirms the UK’s commitment to supporting Ukraine.
Ahead of Friday’s visit, Prince Harry told the Guardian: “We cannot stop the war but what we can do is do everything we can to help the recovery process.”
“We can continue to humanise the people involved in this war and what they are going through.”
The paper reports Prince Harry is joined by a team from his Invictus Games Foundation – which he launched in 2014.
