'Silence will hold you in the dark': Prince Harry's words of advice to ex-servicemen during surprise visit to Ukraine
Prince Harry has never been known for following convention and, after he delighted fans during his visit to the UK, he raised the spirits of ex-service personnel in Ukraine.
The Royal made a surprise visit to the war-torn country after briefly being reunited with his father in London for the first time in more than a year.
The stop-off was part of the Prince’s work with his Invictus Games Foundation and he reminded the crowd that ‘there will always be someone there to pick you up’.
Harry travelled to Kyiv after an invitation from the Ukrainian government and Olga Rudneva, chief executive of the Superhumans Centre, an orthopaedic clinic and rehabilitation centre for adults and children affected by the war in Ukraine.
In Ukraine, the duke participated in a panel discussion at the National Museum of the History of Ukraine in the Second World War, during which he paid tribute to “the wives and mothers who keep their loved ones on the straight and narrow, they deserve as much respect as anyone who serves”.
Asked about advice for those leaving military service and who may miss the camaraderie, Harry said: “You will feel lost at times, like you lack purpose, but however dark those days are, there is light at the end of the tunnel.
“You just need to look for it, because there will always be someone — a mother, father, sibling, friend, or comrade — there to pick you up.”
He added: “Don’t stay silent. Silence will hold you in the dark.
“Open up to your friends and family, because in doing so you give them permission to do the same.”
Harry also met Ukraine’s minister for veteran affairs, Natalia Kalmykova, to discuss the ways the Invictus Games Foundation and the international community can improve support for wounded, injured and sick serving personnel and veterans with life-changing injuries who are returning home.
He was hosted at a fundraising lunch in support of the Superhumans Centre in Lviv, which he visited in April, where he met patients and medical professionals to learn about the services provided there.
The duke told The Guardian on an overnight train to Kyiv: “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 duke ended his visit at Maidan Square where he laid a wreath to honour Ukrainian veterans.
On Wednesday, the Sussexes’ charitable foundation Archewell announced it had donated 500,000 US dollars (£369,000) to projects supporting injured children from Gaza and Ukraine.
The grants will be used to help the World Health Organisation with medical evacuations and also to fund work developing prosthetics for youngsters seriously hurt in the conflicts.
The announcement coincided with Harry’s visit to the Centre for Blast Injury Studies at Imperial College London, where he heard about its work focusing on injuries suffered by children and those sustained in natural disasters.