Prince Harry in surprise Ukraine visit says they're "going to win" amid war with Russia
Lviv, Ukraine - Prince Harry made a surprise visit to Ukraine over the weekend, meeting wounded veterans and medics specialising in war injuries and telling them: "You're going to win the war."
Making his fourth visit to Ukraine since Russia's 2022 invasion, Prince Harry told the wounded soldiers that "the world will continue to support" Kyiv and expressed hope that the lengthy war would end.
He took part in events Saturday and Sunday in the western city of Lviv, with the trip kept secret for security reasons.
The British royal took to the stage at a conference for medics organised by Superhumans, a clinic in the city that specialises in the rehabilitation of wounded soldiers.
"You're going to win the war and then you're going to be set up for success," Prince Harry told listeners, including Health Minister Viktor Liashko.
The prince, a former British army officer and founder of the Invictus Games, also met athletes hoping to represent Ukraine at next year's games in the British city of Birmingham.
His trip took place as Russia has pounded Ukraine in the run-up to winter.
The 42-year-old prince was dressed casually in a dark hooded puffer jacket and brown desert boots as he attended a series of events.
In a school sports hall, he watched wheelchair rugby players zooming around as they vied for a place in Ukraine's team at the next Invictus Games, an international sports contest for veterans and serving military personnel founded by the prince.
Ukraine plans to send its largest ever team – 60 competitors – to the games next year.
The Russia-Ukraine war has killed hundreds of thousands, displaced millions and left a large number of Ukrainians with disabilities and missing limbs.
On Sunday, the prince called the veterans "role models" for society and for Western support for Kyiv's army to be extended to veterans.
"We've invested in them before they put the uniform on, we must invest in them once the uniform comes off."
Cover photo: EFREM LUKATSKY / POOL / AFP