Duke of Sussex makes surprise visit to Ukraine

The Duke of Sussex has made a surprise trip to Ukraine and said he wants to do “everything possible” to help the recovery of injured military staff.

Harry travelled 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.

His trip comes after spending several days in the UK, where he reunited with his father the King for their first face-to-face meeting in more than a year.

The duke told the Guardian while on an overnight train to Kyiv: “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.”

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 had visited the centre 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’”.

“I had to check with my wife and the British government to make sure it was OK. Then the official invitation came,” he added.

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 Organisation 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.

During his trip to Kyiv, the duke is due to visit the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War, the Guardian said.

He is also due to spend time with 200 veterans and meet Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko.