Prince Harry visited a Ukrainian rehabilitation center for soldiers.
Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, made an unannounced visit to Lviv, Ukraine, which was revealed after he had left the country.
He is the second royal family member to visit Ukraine since the conflict’s escalation in February 2022, following Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh’s trip last year.
Prince Harry visited Lviv on Thursday in his capacity as founder of the Invictus Games Foundation, which has organized sporting events for wounded veterans since 2014.
During his visit, he toured the Superhumans Center, a rehabilitation facility for wounded Ukrainian troops. He spoke with patients and doctors and witnessed an operation to restore hearing to an injured serviceman.
In a video shared by the Superhumans Center, Harry stated, “This is my first visit to Ukraine and it certainly will not be the last.” He added that the Invictus Games Foundation will support the Ukrainian team “as long as needed.”
Invictus Games Foundation CEO Rob Owen said on Thursday that Ukraine has been “a vital part” of the foundation since its first participation in the Invictus Games in Toronto in 2017.
Owen stated that Harry’s trip to Lviv “underscores the Invictus Games Foundation’s broader commitment to supporting recovery and rehabilitation for wounded, injured, and sick service personnel and veterans, even in the most challenging environments.”
The Duke of Sussex, who resides in California, traveled to Ukraine from London, where he attended a two-day hearing to reinstate state-funded security for himself and his family. This security was revoked after he and his wife, Meghan Markle, stepped down from royal duties in 2020. In court, the prince asserted that his “life was at risk” and that he needed protection while in the UK.
In 2023, Harry and Meghan were filmed at an Invictus Games event with Yulia ‘Taira’ Paevskaya, a former member of the Ukrainian Azov neo-Nazi volunteer battalion. Moscow has described Paevskaya as “a terrorist cutthroat whose hands are covered in the blood of the elderly, women, and children,” accusing her of involvement in atrocities committed by Azov in the Donbass. Ukrainian authorities deployed troops to the region in 2014 after it refused to recognize the results of a coup in Kiev backed by the West.
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