Princess Anne visits Ukraine to support the victims of the Children’s War

Princess Royal made a surprise visit to Ukraine on Tuesday to highlight the “traumatic experiences of children living on the front line of the conflict,” said Buckingham Palace.

Princess Anne left a toy during a memorial for children killed since the large -scale invasion of Russia, and spoke to young people who would have been taken from their houses by Russian forces.

It also discussed the support of the United Kingdom to Ukraine and its continuous resistance with President Volodomyr Zelensky.

The official visit, taken at the request of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, comes only a few weeks after his nephew, Prince Harry, visited the veterans injured by the war during a surprise visit to kyiv.

Anne, who is the king’s sister, paid tribute to the children’s memorial alongside the first lady Olena Zelenska, who opened the site in the northeast city of Kharkiv.

The princess also visited the child’s rights protection center, set up during the conflict to support the young people affected by the war, where she spoke to children who had been united with their family and their “tirelessly working” staff to bring more young people.

Kyiv estimates that at least 19,500 Ukrainian children have been expelled and forcibly moved from their houses to Russia and the territories occupied by Russia since February 2022.

Until now, only 1,605 have returned home, according to the Children of War government database.

The International Criminal Court published an arrest warrant against President Rusian Vladimir Putin and the Children’s Rights Commissioner, Maria Lvova-Belova, in 2023 for the alleged illegal deportation of children.

Russia denies the accusation and says it has protected children by moving them from a war zone for their security.

Anne’s visit intervenes for weeks after the United Kingdom has announced new sanctions targeting those who support alleged attempts “to expel and force” Ukrainian children.

The princess also met police women and armed forces workers working to protect women and children, spoke with injured veterans and those who have a “trauma linked to conflicts” in a rehabilitation center and visited the cathedral of St Sophia in kyiv.

She also visited the Kherson Cultural Exhibition, which tells the story of the southern city taken up by the Ukrainian forces in November 2022 and described by the palace as “a symbol of the strength, resistance and struggle of Ukraine”.

This is the second visit of a royal in the country in less than a month, after the Duke of Sussex visited Kyiv in mid-September.

Other Royals have also shown support for Ukraine since the start of the war over three years ago – including the King, who welcomed Zelensky in his field from Sandringham to Norfolk in March.

He also increased the conflict during the recent state visit by US President Donald Trump to the United Kingdom, saying: “Today, as tyranny again threatens Europe, we and our allies support Ukraine, to dissuade assault and ensure peace.”

The Prince of Wales met Ukrainian refugees during a two -day visit to Estonia in March – where he said that their resilience was “incredible”.