Prince Harry backs Invictus Games in Ukraine when war ends

Prince Harry told Ukrainian medics they are "going to win the war" on an unannounced weekend visit to Lviv, where his meetings included injured veterans and people hoping to join the Invictus Games.

The two-day trip ended Sunday and marked Harry’s fourth visit to Ukraine since Russia invaded in February 2022. Ukraine has about 1.4 million combat veterans, more than 10% of whom have disabilities.

In 2014, Harry created the Invictus Games, where injured veterans and military personnel compete in adaptive sports. On Saturday, he addressed a medics’ conference organized by Superhumans, a Lviv rehabilitation clinic for people injured in the war that he has previously supported.

"You're going to win the war and then you're going to be set up for success," Harry told the conference.

"Every single time I come back to Ukraine, I feel welcome, I feel warmth," he said. Harry acknowledged he had "taken a risk to come here."

A soldier’s 232 days

Harry met Kostiantyn Vlasenko, the first Ukrainian airlifted by drone from the front lines near Synkivka in the Kharkiv region, The Associated Press reported. Vlasenko held his position for 232 days, hiding from Russian forces and passing observations to fellow troops until his airlift in early October.

After Vlasenko was seriously wounded in combat in February, both of his feet had to be amputated; he removed one himself, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s office said. Zelenskyy awarded him the Hero of Ukraine, the country’s highest honor.

Harry called Vlasenko "impressive."

Vlasenko replied, "stubborn."

"I have a huge amount of admiration and respect for you," Harry said.

Trials for Birmingham

At a school sports hall, Harry watched wheelchair rugby players vie for spots on Ukraine’s team for next year’s Invictus Games in Birmingham, England. Ukraine intends to send its biggest team yet, with 60 competitors. About 500 people have registered for selection, Al Jazeera reported.

Harry hugged Valery Odainyk, a 41-year-old amputee he recognized from the 2025 Invictus Games in Canada. Odainyk told him he is "still an active serviceman."

"So when do you find time to train?" Harry asked.

Odainyk said his participation in disability sport "all started and continues with the Invictus Games."

Harry also took up a pickleball paddle, joining a player with an amputated arm against two men who had each lost a leg. Oleksandr, a 49-year-old veteran from Odesa, told the AP that Harry agreed when asked to play.

"He talks to people, he isn't like a royal personage. He loves ordinary people. He is completely different," Oleksandr said.

On Sunday, Harry described wounded veterans as role models for society and said Kyiv must keep supporting them, the AP reported. "We've invested in them before they put the uniform on and we must invest with them once the uniform comes off," he said at the trials.

"The rest of the world will continue to support you," Harry said. He then added, "In my mind you've already won."

"When the war is over and when Ukraine wins, we will be ready to support you in holding an Invictus Games," he told veterans in Lviv.

Now 42, Harry served for a decade in the British army, including a deployment to Afghanistan as a helicopter pilot. He visited Kyiv in September 2025 and again in April 2026, when he described Ukraine as "a country bravely and successfully defending Europe's eastern flank."