Prince Harry said it was good to be back in Ukraine following his surprise arrival, as ITV News’ Royal Editor Chris Ship reports from Kyiv.
Prince Harry has returned to Ukraine, urging the world not to lose sight of what the country is up against.
He has made the unannounced visit to Kyiv at a time when the focus of international concern has been on the war in Iran.
But Ukraine is defending the principle of democracy, Harry will tell a security conference in Kyiv.
At Kyiv railway station on Thursday morning, the Duke of Sussex stepped off an overnight train from Poland to remind world leaders what is at stake in Ukraine’s long fight against Russian aggression.
“It’s good to be back in Ukraine”, Prince Harry said as he arrived.
He told ITV News that he wanted “to remind people back home and around the world what Ukraine is up against and to support the people and partners doing extraordinary work every hour of every day in incredibly tough conditions.”
Watch as ITV News films Prince Harry’s arrival in Kyiv
He called Ukraine “a country bravely and successfully defending Europe’s eastern flank” and said “it matters that we don’t lose sight of the significance of that.”
His message to Ukrainians is that “the world sees you and respects you”.
Senior Western defence and government officials are gathering in the Ukrainian capital for the Kyiv Security Conference.
Harry will make a speech at the conference and tell them that the battle here is more than a simple fight about territory.
He will draw on his own military experience and his connections with competitors from the Invictus Games, which he founded, to warn that the impact of the war in Ukraine will last “for years to come”.
The Duke will also call the abduction of Ukrainian children by Russian forces a “systematic and intentional” act which will have consequences at the International Criminal Court.
The Duke of Sussex greeted Ukrainian officials as he arrived in Kyiv Thursday morning
His visit to Ukraine comes at a time when the world’s attention has been on the Middle East, and yet Ukraine’s war with Russia is now more than four years old.
He will tell delegates in Kyiv on Thursday that the world must not become “numb” to this, or any other conflict.
“This is a war about values, not just territory”, Harry will say in his speech.
The Duke arrives in Ukraine just days after finishing a tour of Australia with his wife, Meghan.
He will support his Invictus Games Foundation in Ukraine, where the number of severely wounded military personnel is growing at an alarming rate.
He will also see the dangerous work being carried out by The Halo Trust, the de-mining charity which his mother Princess Diana famously supported in Angola in 1997.
Civilians are still being injured and killed by landmines and other Russian ordnance which has been left in areas where fighting previously took place.
The Halo Trust employs 1,300 people in de-mining work in Ukraine – its largest operation anywhere in the world.
Harry said: “I’m looking forward to seeing friends and re-connecting with the Invictus community again and standing alongside those helping Ukraine win this fight.”
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