Prince Harry today urged Vladimir Putin to ‘stop this war’ with Ukraine and accused the Russians of carrying out ‘mass killings and torture’ as he arrived for an unannounced visit to Kyiv.
Describing himself as a ‘soldier who understands service’, the Duke of Sussex also made a point of calling for ‘American leadership’ as he urged President Trump to step up as he concentrates on Iran.
Harry claimed he is in Kyiv to ‘remind the world’ and ‘people back home’ in Britain about the conflict.
After arriving in the Ukrainian capital secretly by train on Thursday morning, Harry, 41, spoke a security conference where he made a direct plea to Putin for peace, telling him he will never win the war.
‘There is still a moment—now—to stop this war, to prevent further suffering for Ukrainians and Russians alike, and to choose a different course’, Harry said.
He went on: ‘President Putin, no nation benefits from the continued loss of life we are witnessing’.
Harry then accused the Russians of relentless ‘attacks on civilians, mass killings, torture, sexual violence, and the forced deportation of entire populations’ including many tens of thousands of children.
He said these young people are being brainwashed by a system ‘designed to erase who they are’.
Prince Harry has made a surprise appearance at the Kyiv security forum where he made a direct plea to Vladimir Putin for peace
Harry also reassured Ukrainians that he has not forgotten their plight.
‘The world sees you and respects you’, he told delegates.
He added: ‘I am not here as a politician. I am here as a soldier who understands service, as a humanitarian who has seen the human cost of conflict, and as a friend of Ukraine’.
His unannounced visit to Kyiv came just a week after Russia launched its deadliest aerial assault on the capital so far this year. Moscow bombarded the country with a wave of drone and missile strike, killing 17 people and injuring more than 100. Four died in Kyiv, including a 12-year-old boy.
‘It’s good to be back in Ukraine’, Harry said, adding praise for how its people had been ‘bravely and successfully defending Europe’s eastern flank’.
He arrived in Kyiv by train this morning having spent last week in Australia with Meghan on their controversial pseudo-royal tour.
Harry also quietly sent a wreath to his late grandmother Queen Elizabeth II’s Windsor grave to mark what would have been her 100th birthday on Tuesday – but did not join his family’s celebrations at Buckingham Palace in London.
He secretly arrived in Kyiv by train early on Thursday morning, suggesting he flew to Poland and then travelled by rail to the Ukrainian capital overnight.
He told ITV News that his visit is ‘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.’
Prince Harry has arrived in Ukraine for an unannounced visit to Kyiv
Harry travelled by train overnight and was hugged on the platform
‘It ‘s good to be back in Ukraine’, Harry said as he arrived this morning
It is Harry’s second visit to Kyiv and third to Ukraine since war with Russia began
He branded 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.’
‘This is a war about values, not just territory’, Harry said in his speech.
It is his second visit to the city, having spent time there last September as part of his continued work for the Invictus Games and to support Ukraine’s tens of thousands of injured veterans.
Harry, who served 10 years in the British Army, has long made helping injured soldiers one of his most prominent causes.
He will give a speech later today where he will say Ukraine’s battle is more than a simple fight about territory.
In April last year, Harry met with war victims in his first trip to Ukraine, this time time to Lviv.
Photos showed the royal with a smile ear-to-ear, posing with dozens of wounded soldiers.
One image showed the Duke with a solemn expression as he chatted to a visibly injured youngster.
The visit to the area in western Ukraine, that has frequently been targeted with Russian missiles, was not announced until after Harry was out of the country.
Harry has arrived in Europe but it is not clear if he has been in the UK.
However, the Duke of Sussex organised for flowers to be laid by the Queen’s grave at St George’s Chapel in Windsor Castle on what would have been her 100th birthday, according to Sussex-approved People magazine.
The Queen was interred after her death in 2022 alongside her husband Prince Philip in the King George VI Memorial Chapel, which also houses the body of the Queen’s father George VI, her mother the Queen Mother and sister Princess Margaret.
Harry stayed in California this week while King Charles and Queen Camilla led senior Royal Family members at a Buckingham Palace reception to honour her yesterday.
It comes after the Duke paid tribute to Philip last August in a personal letter left secretly at the National Memorial Arboretum on the 80th anniversary of VJ Day.
Harry asked a friend to discreetly leave the note and a wreath of red poppies for his late grandfather at the Burma Star Memorial in Staffordshire, following the national commemorations attended by the King and Queen earlier the same day.
But one friend of the Royal Family told the Daily Mail’s Richard Eden at the time: ‘What hypocrisy. Harry hurt his grandfather deeply during the final year of his life.’
The letter was said to have been placed after Charles and Camilla left to avoid distracting from the service which honoured the sacrifice of Second World War heroes who fought and died in the Pacific and Far East.
Queen Elizabeth II with Harry after Lady Gabriella Windsor’s wedding at Windsor Castle in 2019
Harry asked a friend to place a letter and wreath on the Burma Star Memorial last August
In 2020, the year of Megxit, former soldier Harry was left saddened when he was refused his wish to have a poppy wreath placed at the Cenotaph, the focus of the UK’s Remembrance Sunday service, on his behalf.
Just months later, the Duke, who undertook two tours to Afghanistan, was stripped of his military patronages by Elizabeth II after his decision to step down as a senior working royal was made permanent.
Since Elizabeth II’s death on September 8, 2022, Harry has returned to her burial site in Windsor on two occasions – including on the first anniversary in 2023.
The Duke also paid his respects last year, when he was in the UK for the WellChild awards and met his father Charles for the first time in more than a year.
At Tuesday’s Palace reception, the King was accompanied by all the working royals in honour of what would have been his late mother’s 100th birthday.
Joining the King and Queen were the Prince and Princess of Wales, the Duke and Duchess of Edinburgh, the Princess Royal, the Duke and Duchess of Gloucester and even the Duke of Kent and Princess Alexandra – aged 90 and 89 respectively.
The reception was a celebration of Elizabeth II’s life and legacy, as guests from 45 of the patronages she supported were also present for the occasion.
Meanwhile, Harry returned to Montecito last week after he and Meghan toured Australia during a four-day visit that drew large crowds of supporters – as well as fierce criticism.
The Sussexes were accused of using their royal links to cash in on Australia as they carried out a mix of charity and business engagements during their time Down Under.
