UK have shown ‘pure support’ for Ukraine – Ukrainian deputy minister

The UK’s backing of Ukraine is an example of “pure support”, the Ukrainian deputy minister for veterans affairs has said at the Invictus Games.

Inna Drahanchuk said the war is a “genocide of our nation” and there is no philosophy to the Russian onslaught.

Ms Drahanchuk, head of the governmental delegation for the Ukraine team at The Hague, said coming to the event was a “very difficult” decision for the team to make.

She told the PA news agency: “They didn’t want to leave their friends, the Ukrainian soldiers, because most of our team members are in the battlefields in the east of Ukraine and other territories which were occupied by Russians, and they didn’t want to leave their positions.”

But she said it was decided that it could be “one more battlefield for them just to bring this truth here”.

The Ukrainian team have been cheered and applauded by other nations since the Games started at the weekend.

Asked about the support her country has received from the UK Government, she said the UK is “one of the biggest friends for Ukraine and one of the greatest motivators for us”.

She added: “UK is an example of pure support, not diplomacy, not political. This is the strongest support which we have for today, one of the strongest.”

At the Games on Tuesday, the Ukrainian team received 3,000 euro and traditional gifts from the Korean team as an act of solidarity.

The Korean team held a ceremony to hand over the donations and gifts.

Speaking with the help of a translator, Taeho Han, head of delegation in the Korean team, said Koreans know how “painful” war is.

Meanwhile, in the stands at a sporting event in the Zuiderpark, the Duke of Sussex briefly met Lieutenant General Lance Landrum, deputy chairman of the military committee at Nato headquarters in Brussels.

General Landrum told the PA news agency: “We had a chance to meet very, very briefly and we thanked each other for our support.

“I thanked him for his support and what he does for these Games, and how important it is for the families, especially, and for the athletes as well.

“In just the brief time I had with him, his energy and enthusiasm and sincerity for the support of these Games is clearly evident.”