HARRY ON FRONTLINE 

Harry shakes robot hand of Ukraine war amputee on daring visit to ‘brave’ country as Prince slams Putin over conflict

PRINCE Harry shook the robotic hand of a Ukraine war amputee during his daring visit to the “brave” country.

Hero Oleksandr Zozuliak, 48, a former senior lieutenant wounded in a tank battle in Debaltseve, joked Harry was scared of his iron grip.

Prince Harry meets wounded war vet Oleksandr ZozuliakCredit: Simon Jones
 

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Zozuliak’s prosthetic uses 16 sensors on his stump that detect his commandsCredit: Simon Jones
He said: “I squeezed Harry’s hand tight with the prosthesis but in reality the prosthesis doesn’t squeeze that tightly.”

His £75,000 prosthetic, made by Bionics Group Ukraine, uses 16 sensors on his stump that detect his commands and gives him full movement of the limb and fingers.

“He must have been a little scared”, Zozuliak joked.

The Duke of Sussex, 41, was addressing world leaders and military top brass at the Kyiv Security Forum in Ukraine.

He appealed directly to Russian tyrant Putin to end his bloodbath war in Ukraine– as he condemned the Kremlin leader for a deliberate campaign of war crimes.

In a rare royal foray into global geopolitics Harry addressed the dictator, saying: “President Putin, no nation benefits from the continued loss of life we are witnessing.

“There is still a moment—now—to stop this war, to prevent further suffering for Ukrainians and Russians alike, and to choose a different course.”

Harry insisted Putin will never win the war in Ukraine and urged US President Trump to step up and show “American leadership”.

He said: “Years into this war, with immense losses and limited gains, it is increasingly clear that this path offers no victory—only more loss.

“The cost continues to rise—with no outcome that justifies the human toll.”

On America’s role he said: “This is a moment for American leadership – a moment for America to show that it can honour its international treaty obligations.

“Not out of charity, but out of its enduring role in global security and strategic stability.”

US President Donald Trump hit back at the remarks from the Oval Office late on Thursday, telling reporters: “Prince Harry is not speaking for the UK, that’s for sure.

“I think I am speaking for the UK more than Prince Harry.”

Harry said Ukraine had earned the “respect of the world”.

And in a stark criticism of world leaders who trample international law, he added: “Respect matters.

“Because when leaders act without respect – for sovereignty, for international law, for human life – respect, once lost, is rarely recovered. And never quickly.”

Harry condemned the relentless, “attacks on civilians, mass killings, torture, sexual violence, and the forced deportation of entire populations,” including tens of thousands of children.

He said thousands of stolen children were being brainwashed by a system “designed to erase who they are”.

He signalled it likely amounted to a “genocide”.

He added: “The forcible transfer of children from one national group to another is not just a war crime—it can constitute an act of genocide when carried out with intent to destroy a people’s identity.

“This is not collateral damage. This is not the chaos of war spilling over.

“This is organised, systematic, intentional, and designed to endure long after the fighting stops.”

Harry didn’t name Putin but said the way Kremlin troops behaved on the battlefield had been “planned, executed, and defended at the highest levels.”

He fumed: “We must be absolutely clear about the nature of this war.

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Prince Harry addressed the Kyiv security forum in Ukrainian capitalCredit: News Group Newspapers ltd
 

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Harry appealed directly to Vladimir Putin and condemned a deliberate campaign of war crimesCredit: Getty
“This is not an accident, nor misunderstanding, nor the inevitable fog of conflict.

“It is the product of sustained, deliberate policy – planned, executed, and defended at the highest levels.”

He arrived in Kyiv today for his third visit since the full-scale war.

The California-based dad-of-two said he was not in Ukraine as “a politician” but as a soldier.

The Prince, who served 10 years in the Army and spent two tours in southern Afghanistan, said: “I am here as a soldier who understands service, as a humanitarian who has seen the human cost of conflict, and as a friend of Ukraine who believes the world must not grow used to this war or numb to its consequences.”

He also hailed Ukraine’s formidable strength on the battlefield, adding: “I’ve seen what strength looks like in conflict.

“I saw it during my time serving alongside allies in Afghanistan”.

He added: “You have adapted, you have endured. And you have held the line.

“Few believed that would be possible. And yet here you are – still standing, still fighting, still leading.”

He said: “What is happening here is not simply a war about territory.

“It is a war about values, about sovereignty, about whether the principles that underpin our shared democracy still hold meaning.”

He singled out the theft of children as the most heinous of Russian war crimes.

He said: “Tens of thousands of Ukrainian children have been forcibly taken from their homes – many separated from parents who were killed, detained, or simply lost in the chaos – and transported into Russia or Russian-controlled territories.

“There, they are subjected to a system designed to erase who they are: given new identities, new citizenship, placed into Russian families, and cut off from their language, culture, and country.

“Obstacles are deliberately created to prevent their return.”

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Harry is warmly greeted by a hug as he arrivesCredit: Simon Jones
 

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An apartment building in Dnipro hit by a Russian drone strikeCredit: Reuters
 

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He said it was good to be back in the war-torn countryCredit: Simon Jones
Harry travelled to Kyiv on a surprise visit by train after a deadly Russian drone strike hit a railway yard in Ukraine’s southern Zaporizhzhia province, where at least one worker was killed.

Defiant Harry, 41, told The Sun: “It’s good to be back in Ukraine – a country bravely and successfully defending Europe’s eastern flank.”

He added: “It matters that we don’t lose sight of the significance of that.”

He was greeted by Ramina Shut, executive director of the Open Ukraine Foundation, who organised the Kyiv Security Forum.

The Duke of Sussex said he hoped “to remind people back home and around the world what Ukraine is up against”.

Moscow has fired over a thousand missiles and drones at Ukraine over the previous seven days.

Parts of Kyiv are still without heating after relentless Kremlin strikes on energy infrastructure over the winter.

The former British soldier is also expected to visit de-miners from the Halo Trust charity, which was championed by his late mother Princess Diana.

Halo credit Princess Diana with helping to secure a global mine ban – signed by 122 countries – after she visited a minefield in Angola in 1997.

Harry is also expected to spend time with Ukraine’s participants in his Invictus Games Foundation, which helps wounded veterans recover through sport.

Harry said: “I’m here to get on the ground, to re-connect and listen, to remind people back home and around the world what Ukraine is up against and to support the people and partners doing extraordinary work every hour of every day in incredibly tough conditions.”

His trip to Ukraine follows a four-day visit to Australia last week with wife Meghan.

The dad-of-two added: “I’m looking forward to seeing friends and re-connecting with the Invictus community again and standing alongside those helping Ukraine win this fight.”

Harry made two visits to Ukraine last year, in April and September, as a guest of Superhumans charity, which provides cutting-edge prosthetics and rehabilitation for wounded warriors and civilians.

Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, was the first British royal to visit Ukraine during the war in April 2024 while Princess Anne also visited in October.

King Charles has shown his support by regularly meeting President Zelensky, including at Sandringham last year, just days after the war leader had been humiliated by President Trump at the White House.

Prince William visited British soldiers based in Estonia, on Nato’s eastern flank, last year.

He hailed Ukraine’s “resilience” and rode in a Challenger 2 tank in a symbolic show of Britain’s military presence to deter a Russian assault on NATO.

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Parts of Kyiv are still without heating after relentless Kremlin strikes on energy infrastructure over the winterCredit: News Group Newspapers ltd