The Duchess of Edinburgh arrives in Ukraine
30 April 2024 13:04
Sophie, Duchess of Edinburgh, has arrived in Kyiv and is the first member of the British royal family to visit Ukraine since the start of the full-scale Russian invasion.
“The Duchess of Edinburgh has become the first royal to visit Ukraine since the start of the war to express her solidarity with the men, women and children affected by the Russian invasion,”
– the British Foreign Office said in a statement.
The Duchess is actively working within the framework of the British initiative “Preventing Sexual Violence in Conflict” and the UN Women, Peace and Security programme. Therefore, in Ukraine, she met with victims of sexual violence and torture, as well as with children who have returned to Ukraine from deportation.
In Kyiv, the Duchess met with President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy and his wife. Duchess Sophie also paid tribute to the victims of the Bucha massacre.
“During the visit, the Duchess of Edinburgh paid tribute to the victims of Bucha two years after its liberation from Russian troops and visited the ‘Road of Life’, a bridge that became a key part of the Ukrainian resistance. It was blown up to stop Russian troops from advancing towards Kyiv and then became a vital route for people fleeing to safety from the Russian occupation,”
– the British Foreign Office said.
Meanwhile, the UK is providing Ukraine with a record military aid package: what‘s in it?
