Prince Harry in surprise visit to Ukraine to meet war victims
KYIV — Britain's Duke of Sussex met war victims in Ukraine on Thursday when he visited a clinic that rehabilitates wounded military personnel and civilians, a spokesperson has said.
Prince Harry visited the Superhumans Center, in the western city of Lviv, where he spoke to patients and staff.
He was accompanied by a group from the Invictus Games Foundation, including four veterans who had been through similar rehabilitation.
Lviv has frequently been targeted with Russian missiles and the visit was not announced until after the prince was out of the country.
Prince Harry, who served for 10 years in the British Army, founded the Invictus Games in 2014 for wounded veterans to compete in sports events.
The visit to Superhumans was to observe the support and rehabilitation services being provided in a country actively experiencing war, a spokesperson said.Prince Harry was invited by Olga Rudneva, a chief executive of the centre, at the Invictus Games Vancouver Whistler 2025.During the visit, the prince met patients and medical professionals, in addition to Ukraine's Minister of Veterans Affairs, Natalia Kalmykova.Th clinic administers psychological help, reconstructive surgery and prosthetics to victims for free."This visit to the Superhumans charity in Ukraine underscores the Invictus Games Foundation's broader commitment to supporting recovery and rehabilitation for wounded injured and sick service personnel and veterans, even in the most challenging environments," he said.Held in Vancouver, the last edition of the games involved more than 500 competitors from 23 nations, while Birmingham will host the next games in 2027.Prince Harry was in London this week for a Court of Appeal hearing over his security arrangements in the UK.He is the second royal to visit Ukraine since Russia's full scale invasion, after the Duchess of Edinburgh visited Kyiv last year.His father the King welcomed Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelensky to his Sandringham estate in Norfolk in March, just days after Zelensky's unprecedented exchange with US president Donald Trump and his vice president JD Vance in the White House's Oval Office.The Prince of Wales, Harry's brother, met Ukrainian refugees during a two-day visit to Estonia last month. — BBC
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Saudi Gazette
7 hours ago
- Saudi Gazette
15 killed in worst Russian strikes on Kyiv in almost a year
KYIV — Russia launched a barrage of hundreds of drones and missiles on Kyiv overnight into Tuesday, killing at least 15 people in its deadliest attack on the Ukrainian capital in almost a year. At least 124 people were injured, with 68 of them transported to local hospital, the head of the Kyiv Military Administration told Ukrainian media at the site of one of the attacks. One strike hit a multi-story residential building, splitting it in two and leaving a huge gap where dozens of homes were just moments before. Five lifeless bodies were pulled out of the rubble by Tuesday midday, with rescue operations continuing into the afternoon. Nastya, a chef at a well known restaurant whose family asked for her last name not to be published, lived in the building. She was pulled out of the rubble and was in an intensive care unit at a local hospital, they said. The Russian assault was the deadliest on the capital in almost a year, the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine (HRMMU) said on Tuesday. 'Last night's attack was the fourth time this month that Russian armed forces launched more than 400 munitions in a single night. By comparison, Russian armed forces launched 544 long-range munitions during the entire month in June 2024,' the HRMMU said in a on Monday, Kyiv residents heard the sirens alerting them to an imminent aerial attack, and it turned out to be another long and frightening was once again attempting to inundate Ukrainian air defenses with wave after wave of drones and Mayor Vitaliy Klitschko said in a Telegram post that residential buildings and other infrastructure were severely damaged.'We hope that no dead will be found under the rubble, but we cannot rule it out,' he added. 'The death toll may increase.'Klitschko said in the message that a US citizen was killed in the Solomyanskyi district of Kyiv overnight. The mayor said the person was 62 years old and 'died in a house opposite to the one where medics were providing assistance to the victims,' without giving any more the civilian deaths and evidence of direct strikes on residential buildings, the Russian defense ministry said on Tuesday that it targeted 'military-industrial complex facilities in the Kyiv region and Zaporizhzhia.'The Ukrainian Air Force said 440 drones and 32 missiles were launched at Ukraine overnight and added that it manage to destroy 428 of has ramped up its airborne attacks against Ukraine in recent weeks, launching as many as 479 drones and missiles in a single night. Ukrainian officials say these assaults are not just bigger and more frequent; they are also more concentrated and executed in a way that makes them a lot more difficult to combat – as they are flown at higher altitudes, out of reach of machine 27 locations in different districts of Kyiv came under fire in the latest attack, according to a statement from Ukraine's Minister of Internal Affairs, Ihor Klymenko.'Rescuers, police and medics are working. They are doing everything they can to help the victims, clear the rubble and save lives,' he strikes come as US President Donald Trump announced he would return to Washington a day early from the Group of 7 summit in early departure means he will miss a key meeting with Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky on the sidelines of the would have been the leaders' third meeting since Trump took office in officials had been hoping that a positive interaction with Trump could advance Kyiv's case amid Moscow's intensifying Russian Security Council Secretary Sergey Shoigu arrived in Pyongyang on a 'special mission' from Russian leader Vladimir Putin, according to Russian state news agency is scheduled to meet North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Tass reported has continued support for Moscow's war on Ukraine as world leaders push for an end to the three-year Korea has sent soldiers and millions of munitions, including missiles and rockets, to Russia over the past year, according to a May report by an international watchdog, the Multilateral Sanctions Monitoring US has warned that Russia may be close to sharing advanced space and satellite technology with North Korea in exchange for continued support for the war in Trump, the US has been less willing to equip badly outgunned Ukraine directly, has pushed European partners to pick up more of the support and threatened to walk away altogether from peace talks. — CNN
Saudi Gazette
17 hours ago
- Saudi Gazette
Russia and Ukraine fulfill deal to repatriate dead soldiers
KYIV — Ukraine and Russia have completed an exchange of dead bodies — the final stage of a deal to bring home fallen soldiers. Kyiv said Moscow handed over 1,245 bodies on Monday, bringing the total to 6,057 in the past few days. It said it was now verifying whether all the bodies were indeed of Ukrainian soldiers. Russia put 6,060 the overall number of bodies transferred to Ukraine. It also said 78 bodies of Russian soldiers had been repatriated. Ukrainian Interior Minister Ihor Klymenko accused Russia of "deliberately complicating" the identification process. "Bodies are returned in an extremely mutilated state, parts of [the same] bodies are in different bags," he said. Russian President Vladimir Putin launched a full-scale invasion of Ukraine in February 2022. The latest exchange took place at an undisclosed location on Monday. The bodies in white bags were brought in refrigerator Cross members monitored the a statement, Ukraine's government agency co-ordinating the repatriation said that "another 1,245 bodies were returned to Ukraine".It said the identification process and "all the necessary examinations" would be carried out by Ukrainian law enforcement the Russian defense ministry said in a statement that 1,248 bodies of Ukrainian soldiers had been handed over to figure was questioned by Klymenko, who said that Ukraine had "received bodies of Russian soldiers mixed with those of Ukrainians" during the earlier its statement, the Russian defense ministry also said it had received the bodies of 51 killed Russian soldiers on Monday, taking the total to ministry added it was ready to hand over another 2,239 bodies of Ukrainian overall disparity between the two sides may be due to the fact that, of late, Russia has been making territorial gains, so would have been able to recover many of its own soldiers killed in between the two sides is extremely low, even when it comes to the Red Cross declined to say how many bodies had been handed over by each side."It's been up to them really to figure out the details, to discuss directly and determine where this takes place, when, and which human remains to be part of that process," ICRC spokesman Pat Griffiths told the deal to repatriate the bodies and also exchange prisoners of war was agreed at peace talks between Ukraine and Russia in Istanbul, Turkey, earlier this month. — BBC
Saudi Gazette
a day ago
- Saudi Gazette
MI6 appoints first female chief in 116-year history
LONDON — Britain's MI6 will be led by a woman for the first time in the foreign intelligence service's 116-year history. Blaise Metreweli, who joined the Secret Intelligence Service in 1999, will become the 18th chief of the organisation and take over from Sir Richard Moore later this year. She is currently responsible for technology and innovation at the service and said she was "proud and honoured" to have been asked to lead. Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer called the appointment "historic" at a time "when the work of our intelligence services has never been more vital". MI6 is tasked with gathering intelligence overseas to improve the UK's security, with its core aims being to stop terrorism, disrupt the activities of hostile states and bolster cyber-security. Its chief, commonly referred to as "C", is the only publicly named member of the Metreweli, 47, is currently Director General "Q" - head of the crucial technology and innovation division that aims to keep the identities of secret agents secret, and come up with new ways to evade adversaries like China's biometric surveillance."MI6 plays a vital role - with MI5 and GCHQ - in keeping the British people safe and promoting UK interests overseas," she said."I look forward to continuing that work alongside the brave officers and agents of MI6 and our many international partners."Ms Metreweli, who studied anthropology at the University of Cambridge, has previously held director level roles in MI5 - MI6's sister, domestic security agency - and spent most of her career working in the Middle East and the King's overseas and international birthday honours list in 2024, she received the Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) for her services to British foreign to the Telegraph in December 2021 when she was at MI5, under the pseudonym of "Director K", Ms Metreweli said threats to UK national security "really are diverse"."The threats we are looking at primarily exist around protecting government, protecting secrets, protecting our people - so counter-assassination - protecting our economy, sensitive technology and critical knowledge," she added that "Russian state activity - not Russia itself - remains a threat" and that China was "changing the way the world is and that presents amazing opportunities and threats for the UK".It is a common misnomer to think that the "C" stands for Chief. It does not. Britain's very first spy agency was called the Secret Service Bureau, established in the 1900s. It was led by a Royal Navy officer, Captain Mansfield Cumming. He always signed his letters "C" and the codename has Cumming wrote in green ink. To this day, the head of MI6 is the only person in Whitehall who will write in does C give his or her agents a "licence to kill"? No. But the foreign secretary can. Under Section 7 of the Intelligence Services Act 1994, an MI6 agent can be authorised to carry out certain actions which would otherwise be illegal - including using lethal force. But it is a long and complicated legal organization she will be running faces unprecedented and multiple these emanate primarily from Russia, China, Iran and North Korea, as the four nations co-operate ever more closely to undermine UK and Western interests across the there are technical challenges role is to recruit human agents to steal secrets from Britain's adversaries, which include both hostile nations and non-state groups like an age of rapid digital innovation, MI6 is having to pedal ever faster to stay ahead of its enemies and to remain relevant, when so much intelligence is now gathered online and from September, outgoing chief Sir Richard - alongside then-CIA chief William Burns - warned that the international world was "under threat in a way we haven't seen since the Cold War".Writing in the Financial Times, the pair said that beyond the war in Ukraine, the two foreign intelligence services were continuing to "work together to disrupt the reckless campaign of sabotage across Europe being waged by Russian intelligence".Sir Richard and Mr Burns added that they saw the rise of China as the main intelligence and geopolitical challenge of the century. They also said they had pushed "hard" for restraint and de-escalation in the Middle Sunday, Sir Richard, who will step down in the autumn after five years in the role, said he was "absolutely delighted" with the "historic appointment" of his colleague."Blaise is a highly accomplished intelligence officer and leader, and one of our foremost thinkers on technology," he said."I am excited to welcome her as the first female head of MI6."Foreign Secretary David Lammy, to whom Ms Metreweli will be accountable as MI6's new chief, said she was the "ideal" candidate and would ensure the UK was able to tackle the challenges of "global instability and emerging security threats"."I would also like to pay tribute to Sir Richard Moore for his service and leadership," he said."I have worked closely with him over the past year and thank him for his valuable contribution enhancing our national security and protecting the British public."Sir Keir also thanked Sir Richard for his "dedicated service"."I know Blaise will continue to provide the excellent leadership needed to defend our county and keep our people safe," he added. — BBC
