Britain’s Prince Harry has met wounded veterans and medics in Ukraine during a surprise visit.
The royal family member attended Ukraine’s National Invictus Games and a conference for medics in the western city of Lviv on Saturday. It was organised by Superhumans, a clinic that specialises in the rehabilitation of war-wounded.
“Every single time I come back to Ukraine, I feel welcome, I feel warmth,” Harry said, adding that he’d “taken a risk to come here”.
Ukraine has about 1.4 million combat veterans, more than 10 percent of whom have disabilities.
“You’re going to win the war,” the 42-year-old British royal said during his fourth trip to the country since the start of the conflict with Russia in 2022.
The prince watched wheelchair rugby players competing for a place in Ukraine’s team for next year’s Invictus Games in Birmingham in England.
Around 500 people have registered to compete to qualify for the 60-member squad – the largest ever team – that Ukraine is planning to send to the 2027 event.
“You’re going to win the war and then you’re going to be set up for success,” he said.
Prince Harry is the founder and patron of the Invictus Games Foundation, which he established in 2014 to support wounded, injured and recovering military service personnel and veterans through adaptive sports, e-sports and recovery programmes.
“When the war is over and when Ukraine wins, we will be ready to support you in holding an Invictus Games,” Harry told wounded veterans later on Saturday.
At a rugby game, he hugged Valery Odainyk, a contestant at the Invictus Games in Canada last year. The leg amputee is “still an active serviceman” in the Ukrainian forces.
“So when do you find time to train?” Harry asked in surprise.
The 41-year-old Odainyk said he told Harry that his involvement in disability sport “all started and continues with the Invictus Games.”
They feature a mix of adaptive core and winter sports, such as alpine skiing, archery, track and field, cycling, wheelchair basketball, rugby and tennis.
