Prince Harry visits wounded veterans in Lviv, tells Ukraine 'you're going to win the war'

A surprise trip kept under wraps

Prince Harry, the Duke of Sussex, made a surprise visit to Lviv on Saturday, 14 November, a trip kept secret for security reasons. A press blackout held until he had left Ukraine, which still faces Russian missile attacks. He spent two days at events for veterans and medical staff, his fourth visit to Ukraine since Russia's full-scale invasion in 2022. Harry took the stage at a conference for medics organised by Superhumans, a Lviv clinic that specialises in rehabilitating people wounded in the war. Ukraine's health minister, Viktor Liashko, was among those present.

Trauma care and lessons from Ukraine

The conference, billed as the first international event on modern war-trauma treatment and rehabilitation, ran on 13 and 14 November. Harry said international specialists used to travel to Ukraine to share their skills, but now came to learn from Ukrainian teams. He also expressed confidence in Ukraine's victory and said the experience gained treating the wounded would underpin reconstruction afterwards. Speaking to the medics, he said:

“You're going to win the war and then you're going to be set up for success.”

Acknowledging that he had taken a risk to come, he described how he was received:

“Every single time I come back to Ukraine, I feel welcome, I feel warmth.”

Veterans and rehabilitation

At the Superhumans Center near Lviv, Harry saw how growing numbers of injured veterans receive new treatment. One veteran of the air assault forces, badly hurt in fighting in Kherson and not expected to walk again, now walks with a spinal cord stimulator implanted in his back. The device has to be recharged every 12 hours, and he cannot feel his feet, so he controls his steps with his eyes. Ukraine has more than 150,000 injured war veterans, and the prince visited projects supporting their treatment and rehabilitation.

Combat veterans (about 1.4 million)1,400,000

Injured war veterans (more than 150,000)150,000

Combat veterans (about 1.4 million)

1400000 people

Injured war veterans (more than 150,000)

150000 people

Data from the article text

Invictus Games 2027 hopefuls

At a school sports hall, Harry watched wheelchair rugby players compete for a place in Ukraine's team at the Invictus Games in Birmingham in 2027. Around 500 people have registered to compete for a 60-member squad, which would be Ukraine's largest team ever. Harry hugged one player he recognised, a 41-year-old veteran with an amputated leg who competed at the 2025 Invictus Games in Canada. Harry asked when he found time to train, and the man said his involvement in disability sport 'all started and continues with the Invictus Games'. Maksym Kozytskyi, head of the Lviv regional military administration, said on Sunday, 15 November, that Harry had personally supported the wheelchair rugby players. On 14 November, Harry told wounded veterans joining the Invictus movement:

“When the war is over and when Ukraine wins, we will be ready to support you in holding an Invictus Games.”

Earlier visits to Ukraine

Harry's earlier trips began in April 2025, when he visited Lviv and the Superhumans rehabilitation centre for wounded military personnel and civilians. In September 2025 he made an unannounced visit to Kyiv, where he met veterans and visited the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War. In April 2026 he attended the Kyiv Security Forum and visited Bucha, where he urged the United States, a guarantor of the Budapest Memorandum, to keep supporting Ukraine. He founded the Invictus Games Foundation in 2014 to support wounded and recovering service personnel and veterans through adaptive sports and recovery programmes.