Prince Harry made a surprise visit to Kyiv, Ukraine, after his official engagements in London.
Harry, 40, traveled to the Ukrainian capital city on a train with a team from his Invictus Games Foundation, according to a report from The Guardian published on Friday, September 12.
The Duke of Sussex told the outlet that he was invited to Kyiv by Olga Rudnieva, who is the founder and CEO of the Superhumans Trauma Centre. (Rudnieva’s nonprofit, which is based in Lviv, supports wounded amputees.)
“I bumped into Olga in New York. It was a chance meeting and I asked her what I could do to help,” Harry told The Guardian. “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.”
Harry, who has been married to Meghan Markle since 2018, has recently been in London for a series of official engagements connected to his patronages. Ukraine, meanwhile, is currently in the middle of civil unrest with Russia.
“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,” Harry said, noting his intentions to speak with veterans and lend support where he can. “We cannot stop the war, but what we can do is do everything we can to help the recovery process.”
The prince added, “We can continue to humanize 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 desensitized to what has been going on.”
Harry currently lives in Montecito, California, with Meghan, 44, and their two children. He traveled to his native England earlier this month to attend the WellChild Awards. During his trip across the pond, Harry also spent time with his father, King Charles III. (Harry and Charles, 76, have been estranged since 2020 when the Spare author stepped down from his duties as a senior working royal.)
Harry was spotted arriving to Charles’ residence, Clarence House, on Wednesday, September 10, marking the first time that the father-son pair have seen one another in over a year. Harry last visited Charles in February 2024 after news broke that the king was diagnosed with an undisclosed type of cancer.
