{"id":279546,"date":"2025-04-11T11:40:09","date_gmt":"2025-04-11T11:40:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/11\/prince-harry-meets-war-victims-in-surprise-visit-to-ukraine\/"},"modified":"2025-04-11T11:40:09","modified_gmt":"2025-04-11T11:40:09","slug":"prince-harry-meets-war-victims-in-surprise-visit-to-ukraine","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/11\/prince-harry-meets-war-victims-in-surprise-visit-to-ukraine\/","title":{"rendered":"Prince Harry Meets War Victims in Surprise Visit to Ukraine"},"content":{"rendered":"<div style=\"text-align:center\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i2.wp.com\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/04\/11\/multimedia\/11int-uk-HARRY-ukraine-01-lzth\/11int-uk-HARRY-ukraine-01-lzth-facebookJumbo.jpg?ssl=1\" class=\"attachment-post-thumbnail size-post-thumbnail wp-post-image\" alt=\"Prince Harry Meets War Victims in Surprise Visit to Ukraine\" title=\"Prince Harry Meets War Victims in Surprise Visit to Ukraine\" \/><\/div><p> <br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-0\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">For the last three years, presidents, prime ministers, movie actors, rock stars and writers have traveled to Ukraine, seeking to show solidarity with a country under assault from its neighbor, Russia. Add Prince Harry to that list.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">On Thursday, Harry, the younger son of King Charles III, made an unannounced visit to the city of Lviv in western Ukraine, where he toured a rehabilitation facility for military and civilian victims of the conflict. He spoke with patients and staff members, according to a spokesman for his office.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Harry\u2019s office confirmed the visit only after he had left Ukraine, reflecting the fact that Lviv is still periodically targeted with missiles by Russia. Earlier this week, he was in London for <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/04\/08\/world\/europe\/prince-harry-security-hearing-court.html\" title=\"\">a court hearing<\/a> in a dispute over the withdrawal of taxpayer-financed security for him and his family when they visit Britain.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Harry\u2019s visit to the rehabilitation clinic is in keeping with one of his most cherished causes: casualties of war. A combat veteran himself, he founded the Invictus Games, a sports competition for injured military veterans, in 2014. He was joined on the visit by a delegation from the Invictus Games Foundation, after being invited by Olga Rudneva, the chief executive of the clinic, which is known as the Superhumans Center.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-1\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The center offers reconstructive surgery, prosthetics, and psychological counseling \u2014 free of charge \u2014 to war victims. During his tour, in which Harry <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/p\/DITA-ooNBUm\/\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">spoke to an injured child<\/a> and men who had lost limbs, he also met with Ukraine\u2019s minister of veterans affairs, Natalia Kalmykova.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Harry\u2019s trip coincided with the end of a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/articles\/c4g88ne5jp1o\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">four-day state visit to Italy<\/a> by Charles and his wife, Queen Camilla. That raised questions about optics among some royal watchers, who noted that members of the royal family generally avoid upstaging monarchs during their overseas travels. Buckingham Palace did not comment.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The king\u2019s visit, in any event, drew headlines of its own after he and Camilla paid an unexpected visit to Pope Francis, who is <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/10\/world\/europe\/pope-improved-pneumonia-vatican.html\" title=\"\">recuperating from double pneumonia<\/a> and a near-fatal respiratory illness. The couple had planned a state visit to the Vatican, but it was scrapped because of the pope\u2019s health.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-2\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Charles won praise for a speech to the Italian Parliament, which he sprinkled liberally with <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.bbc.co.uk\/news\/videos\/cx288j4egg2o\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">Italian phrases<\/a> and <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.royal.uk\/news-and-activity\/2025-04-09\/the-kings-speech-at-the-state-banquet-at-the-quirinale-palace-italy\" title=\"\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\" target=\"_blank\">some pretty decent lines<\/a>. \u201cIt was the Romans who gave Britons the idea of putting a king\u2019s head on coins, so I am especially grateful to them,\u201d he said to laughs.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-3\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">The king\u2019s spirited performance was a reassuring sign after his <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/27\/world\/europe\/king-charles-hospital-cancer-treatment-engagements.html\" title=\"\">brief hospitalization<\/a> in London last month for side effects from his treatment for cancer. A palace official played down that episode as a \u201cminor bump in a road that is very much heading in the right direction.\u201d At times in Italy, though, Charles struck an elegiac tone.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cI am here today with one purpose,\u201d he declared. \u201cTo reaffirm the deep friendship between the United Kingdom and Italy, and to pledge to do all in my power to strengthen that friendship even further in the time that is granted to me as king.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">In his son\u2019s case, the timing of the Ukraine trip seemed driven by the date of the court hearing in London, over which he had no control. Harry, 40, is challenging the loss of paid police protection for him and his family after he and his wife, Meghan, withdrew from royal duties in 2020.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-4\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">He lost a previous stage of the case in February of last year, but a judge granted him permission to appeal the ruling on limited grounds. It was not clear how quickly the Court of Appeals judges would rule on his appeal.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<div data-testid=\"companionColumn-5\">\n<div class=\"css-53u6y8\">\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">Like his father\u2019s, Harry\u2019s travels came at a difficult moment, amid a <a class=\"css-yywogo\" href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/03\/31\/world\/europe\/prince-harry-charity-dispute-harassment.html\" title=\"\">bitter dispute<\/a> between him and the chair of another of his charities, Sentebale, which works in Africa. The chair, Sophia Chandauka, has accused the prince of harassment and bullying to try to eject her from her post. Harry has stoutly denied the allegations, and Britain\u2019s Charity Commission, an independent watchdog, said it was investigating whether trustees, including Ms. Chandauka, had fulfilled their legal duties.<\/p>\n<p class=\"css-at9mc1 evys1bk0\">\u201cWhat has transpired over the last week has been heartbreaking to witness,\u201d Harry said in a joint statement last week with Prince Seeiso of Lesotho, with whom he founded the charity, \u201cespecially when such blatant lies hurt those who have invested decades in this shared goal.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<aside class=\"css-ew4tgv\" aria-label=\"companion column\"\/><\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"\/\/www.instagram.com\/embed.js\"><\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2025\/04\/11\/world\/europe\/prince-harry-ukraine-visit.html\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>For the last three years, presidents, prime ministers, movie actors, rock stars and writers have traveled to Ukraine, seeking to show solidarity with a country under assault from its neighbor, Russia. Add Prince Harry to that list. On Thursday, Harry, the younger son of King Charles III, made an unannounced visit to the city of [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":279547,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/static01.nyt.com\/images\/2025\/04\/11\/multimedia\/11int-uk-HARRY-ukraine-01-lzth\/11int-uk-HARRY-ukraine-01-lzth-facebookJumbo.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[171900,84420,788,170076,1378,6885,22110,2221,1130,5544,1690,3102],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279546"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=279546"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279546\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":279548,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/279546\/revisions\/279548"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/279547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=279546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=279546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/news.talkwithrattan.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=279546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}