Prince Harry has arrived in Ukraine for a surprise visit to the war-torn country.

The Duke of Sussex made a secret journey to Ukraine after receiving an invitation from Volodymyr Zelensky’s government.

He had travelled to Ukraine by train from Poland shortly after reuniting briefly with his father, the King, for the first time in 20 months.

Prince Harry said he was first invited to Ukraine by the CEO of a charity helping wounded veterans, but he had to ‘check with my wife and the British government to make sure it was OK’ before the trip today.

The royal arrived in Kyiv this morning with his Invictus Games team, The Guardian reports.

Instead of flying, Prince Harry took a train with the Railway of Ukraine Ukrzaliznytsia from neighbouring Poland.

He said his aim is to do ‘everything possible’ to help the recovery of injured soldiers who have been hurt during the protracted war against Russia.

Prince Harry, who arrived in the UK on Monday, told the outlet: ‘We cannot stop the war but what we can do is do everything we can to help the recovery process.

‘We can continue to humanise the people involved in this war and what they are going through. We have to keep it in the forefront of people’s minds. I hope this trip will help to bring it home to people because it’s easy to become desensitised to what has been going on.’

The 40-year-old and the Invictus Games Foundation are set to draw up plans for initiatives to support the rehabilitation of wounded soldiers, eventually across all areas of Ukraine, where around 130,000 people have been left with permanent disabilities.

The Duke of Sussex visited the Superhumans Center in Lviv in April, which treats war-wounded amputees, after meeting its CEO and founder, Olga Rudnieva, in the US.

Prince Harry said Olga first invited him to Ukraine when the pair ran into each in New York by chance.

He told the Guardian: ‘It was a chance meeting and I asked her what I could do to help. She said ‘the biggest impact you have is coming to Kyiv’. I had to check with my wife and the British government to make sure it was OK. Then the official invitation came.

‘In Lviv, you don’t see much of the war. It is so far west. This is the first time we will see the real destruction of the war.’

Prince Harry is set to visit the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War.

He will then hang out with 200 veterans who have been invited to meet him.

The Duke of Sussex will also meet the Ukrainian prime minister, Yulia Svyrydenko. It is not known whether he will sit down with the Ukrainian president Zelensky, who is set to meet the UK Foreign Secretary.

Prince Harry is no stranger to a conflict zone after having served in active duty in Afghanistan in 2007-2008 for ten weeks and for 20 weeks between 2012-2013.

Harry arrived in the UK this week on official engagements – but it was his private meeting with King Charles that has gotten the most attention, with rumours swirling that the estranged father and son could reconcile.

Prince Harry was seen pulling up in a car outside Clarence House, the king’s London home, where he spent just under an hour having tea with the monarch.

He visited Windsor Castle, where he laid flowers on Queen Elizabeth’s grave on the third anniversary of her death.

It is unclear whether Harry will connect with his brother, Prince William.

The pair have not crossed paths since the king’s coronation, it is understood.

Meghan Markle stayed in California with the couple’s two children, Archie, six, and Lilibet, four.

The Duchess of Sussex has not been in the UK since September 2022, while Archie and Lilibet last visited in June that year during Queen Elizabeth’s platinum jubilee celebrations.

The new UK Foreign Secretary, Yvette Cooper, is visiting Ukraine, where she is set to meet Zelensky and Ukrainian ministers on her first visit abroad in the job. She has announced £142 million in UK aid, designed to support the country through the winter and into next year.

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