Duchess of Edinburgh makes historic visit to Ukraine | British Royal Family

Sofia, the Duchess of Edinburgh became the first member of the British royal family to visit Ukraine since the Russian invasion in 2022, traveling to the country on Monday for a day of engagements.

The wife of King Charles III’s younger brother met President Vladimir Zelensky and First Lady Olena Zelenska during a visit requested by the British Foreign Office. A duchess took a message from the king to that country.

In a statement, Buckingham Palace said that Sofia’s visit was announced as a way of “demonstrating solidarity with women, men and children affected by war and in continuing her work defending survivors of conflict-related sexual violence.” .

According to the royal family’s account on X, formerly Twitter, the Duchess of Edinburgh visited a United Nations Assistance Center in Kiev, witnessing how the United Nations Population Fund supports survivors of conflict-related sexual violence in 12 Ukrainian cities. The center provides psychosocial and legal support to survivors. There, Sofia met with volunteers to see how they provide mental health care to people affected by sexual violence.

The duchess also visited the Romanivka Bridge, which became a symbol of Ukrainian resistance during the conflict, as it was destroyed to prevent Russian troops from entering Kiev and also serves as one of the main routes for those fleeing Russian occupation. And in Bucha, a town on the outskirts of Kiev, she paid tribute to the people who lost their lives in the ongoing invasion.

Later that afternoon, at the UK ambassador’s residence during a reception, Sofia gave a speech on the human cost of conflict-related sexual violence, saying: “Women and girls pay the highest price in terms of the costs humans.” The king’s sister-in-law also spoke of the resilience of the Ukrainian people, saying that she met “so many wonderful Ukrainians” in the UK, revealing: “The hearts of all the Ukrainians I met in the UK remain here. They would like to return home one day and, God willing, it will happen.”