Britain’s Prince Harry made a surprise visit to Kyiv, Ukraine, on Friday, September 12, 2025, in a show of solidarity and support for wounded service members and civilians caught in the throes of war. The Duke of Sussex’s journey, organized in partnership with the Invictus Games Foundation and at the invitation of Superhumans—a Ukrainian organization supporting those with life-altering injuries—marked his second visit to the embattled country since Russia’s full-scale invasion began in 2022. His previous trip, in April 2025, took him to Lviv in Ukraine’s west, but this time, Harry ventured closer to the conflict’s devastating heart.
Arriving by overnight train, Harry was greeted at the station by Olha Rudnieva, CEO and Founder of the Superhumans Centre. She handed him a traditional podstakannik, a silver holder for a tea glass, a small gesture of Ukrainian hospitality. According to BBC, Rudnieva invited the prince after a chance meeting in New York, where Harry asked how he could help. The official invitation from the Ukrainian government followed, but, as Harry revealed to The Guardian, “I had to check with my wife and the British government to make sure it was OK. Then the official invitation came.”
Security concerns loomed large over the visit, especially as Harry traveled through Poland—where, days earlier, Russian drones had entered NATO airspace—and arrived in Kyiv less than a week after the city endured Russia’s largest aerial attack since the invasion’s start. The main Ukrainian government building was struck, underscoring the war’s relentless escalation. In July alone, Ukraine faced 6,500 drone and missile attacks—ten times the number from just a year prior, according to AP.
Despite the risks, Harry’s determination was clear. “We cannot stop the war but what we can do is do everything we can to help the recovery process,” he told The Guardian while en route to Kyiv. “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’s itinerary was packed. He visited the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War, where he participated in a panel discussion for injured veterans, offering advice drawn from his own decade-long military service. “You will feel lost at times, like you lack purpose,” he told attendees. “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.” (BBC)
Among those he met was war veteran Vasyl Tamulis, who told Reuters, “My main goal was to get a photograph with him because not many people have a photograph with [a] prince.” Tamulis also spoke of the Invictus Games—a Paralympic-style competition for wounded and sick service members founded by Harry in 2014—saying, “Being selected for Invictus Games unites people and motivates because it is a very difficult selection process.”
Ukraine, which has been allowed to compete in the Invictus Games since 2022, is now bidding to host the event in 2029. The Ukrainian government, facing the grim reality that approximately 130,000 people have been left permanently disabled by the conflict, sees sports rehabilitation as a vital part of recovery. As Harry noted, “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.” (Marie Claire)
Harry’s visit included meetings with about 200 veterans and Ukrainian Prime Minister Yulia Svyrydenko. He also met privately with Ukraine’s Minister for Veteran Affairs Natalia Kalmykova and attended a fundraising lunch in support of the Superhumans Centre, which provides prosthetics, reconstructive surgery, and psychological support free of charge. The prince paid his respects at a makeshift memorial to Ukrainian and foreign soldiers, a sobering reminder of the conflict’s toll.
The timing of the visit was significant. It coincided with a diplomatic mission by British Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper, who announced a new round of UK sanctions targeting Russia’s oil revenues and military supplies, along with £142 million in aid to bolster Ukraine’s energy infrastructure and support vulnerable communities. Cooper met with President Volodymyr Zelensky, Prime Minister Svyrydenko, and Foreign Minister Andrii Sybiha, reaffirming the UK’s ongoing commitment to Ukraine’s defense and recovery (BBC).
Beyond his personal presence, Harry’s charitable foundation, Archewell—established with his wife Meghan Markle—recently donated $500,000 to projects aiding injured children from Ukraine and Gaza. The funds will help the World Health Organization with medical evacuations and support the development of prosthetics for young people. The foundation’s grants reflect the couple’s broader commitment to humanitarian causes, especially those connected to the trauma of war.
The royal family’s support for Ukraine has extended beyond Harry. King Charles III welcomed President Zelensky to his Sandringham estate in March, describing Russia’s actions as “indescribable aggression.” Prince William, Harry’s brother, visited British forces near the Polish-Ukrainian border and met with Ukrainian refugees in Estonia, praising their resilience and the efforts of those “defending our freedoms.” Security concerns, however, have prevented William from visiting Ukraine directly.
Harry’s trip also followed a rare face-to-face meeting with his father, King Charles III, in London—marking their first in-person encounter since February 2024. The two had last met when Harry flew to London after learning of the king’s cancer diagnosis, spending about 45 minutes together before Charles returned to his country estate to recuperate. According to Marie Claire, Harry has “not given up hope” of one day bringing Meghan and their children, Archie and Lilibet, back to England.
For Harry, the visit to Kyiv was not just another royal engagement or charitable gesture. It was a deeply personal mission rooted in his own military experience and his commitment to the Invictus Games’ ethos: turning adversity into strength and community. “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,” he admitted, acknowledging the gravity of what he would witness in the capital (Marie Claire).
As Ukraine continues to endure the horrors of a protracted conflict, Harry’s visit offered a measure of hope and international attention to the suffering and resilience of its people. His message, simple yet profound, echoed through the halls of Kyiv’s war museum: while the war may rage on, the world can—and must—help heal its wounds.
