For the second time this year, Prince Harry flew from England to Ukraine. He did the same back in April – he was in the UK for a court appearance in his security case, and he flew undercover to Ukraine to visit the Superhumans Center in Lviv. The British media was furious, as was Harry’s sibling, who apparently wants to visit Ukraine but it’s been deemed too dangerous for him. Once again, Harry is the one in a warzone, this time in Kyiv. Once again, Harry is the one showing courage and bravery. According to the BBC, Harry arrived in Kyiv by train, where he was greeted by Superhumans’ founder Olha Rudnieva. She hugged Harry and “handed the prince a podstakannik – a silver holder for a glass used to drink tea, traditionally provided on night trains across Ukraine.” Amazing. Harry also spoke to the Guardian:
Prince Harry has made a surprise visit to Kyiv after an invitation from the Ukrainian government, saying he wanted to do “everything possible” to help the recovery of the thousands of military personnel who have been seriously injured in the three-year war against Russia. During the trip to the Ukrainian capital, he and a team from his Invictus Games Foundation are set to detail new initiatives to support the rehabilitation of the wounded, with the eventual aim of providing help to all areas of the country.
Earlier this year it was estimated that the Ukraine war had already left 130,000 people with permanent disabilities – and the government has now put rehabilitation through sport at the heart of its policy for helping veterans.
Speaking to the Guardian on an overnight train to the capital, the Duke of Sussex 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 said he was initially invited to Kyiv by Olga Rudnieva, the founder and CEO of the Superhumans Trauma Centre in Lviv, Ukraine which treats wounded amputees. He visited the centre in April, but met her by chance a couple of months ago in the US.
“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’. 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 first took part in the Invictus Games in 2017, but enthusiasm and need for the competition, which was founded by the Prince in 2014 for wounded veterans to compete in sports events, has grown dramatically since the conflict with Russia began. The Duke remembered the reception Ukraine’s team received at the games in The Hague two years ago.
“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. 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 the trip, the Prince is due to visit the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War. He is expected to spend time with 200 veterans, who have also been invited. He is also due to meet the Ukrainian prime minister, Yulia Svyrydenko.
Travelling to Kyiv would give him a chance to talk to veterans, and also see some of the destruction first-hand, he said. While the biennial Invictus Games have been the focal point of much of the foundation’s work, it has been increasing its sports recovery programmes to help provide opportunities for rehabilitation beyond the main games, including by providing sports equipment in Ukraine.
Harry isn’t solo – he has some Invictus people with him, and the focus is very much on Ukraine’s veterans, soldiers and the civilians who have been living in this warzone for two and a half years. Keep in mind that the British press has been trying to stir up trouble in Invictus as well, and they’ve argued that Harry is too controversial or whatever to be the Invictus founder/patron. And here he is, making his second visit to Ukraine in six months. It’s extraordinary. I love the mention of asking permission from his wife and from the British government. Keir Starmer probably knew about this trip before Prince William. There are plates being smashed in Kensington Palace today!
Prince Harry has arrived in Ukraine for a surprise visit in support of wounded service members.
“We cannot stop the war but what we can do is do everything we can to help the recovery process,” he told reporters.
Read more: https://t.co/BOV2IzXsFy pic.twitter.com/TbHdY6Uube
— ABC News (@ABC) September 12, 2025
Prince Harry has also arrived in Kyiv.
Welcome, Sir! pic.twitter.com/uhK3UYOVUr
— Anton Gerashchenko (@Gerashchenko_en) September 12, 2025
Photos courtesy of Cover Images, Superhumans’ Center’s IG.
