Prince Harry has arrived in Kyiv on an unannounced visit after being invited by the Ukrainian Government, GB News can confirm.
The Duke of Sussex said he wants to do "everything possible" to help soldiers who have been left seriously injured during the three-year conflict with Russia.
Travelling with a team from his Invictus Games Foundation, the Duke of Sussex plans to outline new projects to aid the rehabilitation of wounded veterans. The goal is to expand support so it reaches every region of the country.
Ukraine’s Government estimates that around 130,000 people have been left with permanent disabilities since the invasion began. It has made recovery through sport a central part of its veterans policy.
Prince Harry makes surprise visit to Ukraine just one day after leaving UK as Duke accepts Government invite
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Speaking to the Guardian on an overnight train into Kyiv, Harry said: "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. 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."
The Prince explained that the invitation came from Olga Rudnieva, founder of the Superhumans Trauma Centre in Lviv, which treats amputees. He first visited the centre in April and met Rudnieva again by chance in New York a few months ago.
"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.'
Prince Harry wore his Invictus Games jacket during the visit
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"I had to check with my wife and the British Government to make sure it was OK. 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."
Ukraine joined the Invictus Games in 2017, but interest and need for the event, which Harry founded in 2014 to support wounded veterans through sport, has surged since the full-scale invasion.
Reflecting on Ukraine’s presence at the 2022 games in The Hague, he said: "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.
Prince Harry also made a surprise visit to Ukraine earlier this year
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"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 stay, Harry is expected to visit the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War and meet around 200 veterans. He is also scheduled to hold talks with Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko.
Harry is also scheduled to hold talks with Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko
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The Invictus Games Foundation has been widening its sports recovery work to provide opportunities for rehabilitation outside the biennial competition, including by supplying sports equipment in Ukraine.
Ukraine’s veterans affairs minister, Natalia Kalmykova, said sport is now "a key function in veterans" healthcare. It’s thanks to our relationship with the Invictus Games Foundation that we established, and continue to develop, the role of sports in recovery in Ukraine and why it’s included in the veteran policy strategy.’
By March, more than 22,000 Ukrainian veterans had made use of benefits such as gym memberships and swimming passes.