Prince Harry makes surprise Ukraine visit to support war wounded

BBC:

Prince Harry made a surprise visit to Kyiv on Friday, after an invitation by an organisation that supports Ukrainians with life-changing injuries caused by the war.

The Duke of Sussex arrived by train and said he wanted to do “everything possible” to help the recovery of injured military personnel.

Superhumans, which helps provide those injured with prosthetic limbs and rehabilitation, told the BBC that it invited Prince Harry to Ukraine.

Founder Olha Rudnieva greeted the prince off the train with a hug, a video released by Ukrainian Railways showed.

She handed him a podstakannik – a silver holder for a glass used to drink tea, traditionally provided on night trains across Ukraine.

Harry visited a centre run by the organisation in Lviv in April, but this was his first visit to the capital.

There are tens of thousands of soldiers and civilians with amputations as a result of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine – numbers vary, as Ukraine doesn’t give precise statistics on military casualties.

The prince took part in a panel discussion at Kyiv’s National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War – where he advised those leaving military service that there is “light at the end of the tunnel”.

“You will feel lost at times, like you lack purpose,” said Harry, who spent 10 years in the British army.

“Don’t stay silent. Silence will hold you in the dark.

“Open up to your friends and family, because in doing so you give them permission to do the same.”