Duchess Sophie visits Ukraine in first trip by a British royal since start of war
- The Duchess of Edinburgh met with survivors of sexual violence and torture during her visit
- Sophie is the wife of Prince Edward, who is the youngest son of the late Queen Elizabeth
Sophie, Britain’s Duchess of Edinburgh, has visited Ukraine, meeting President Volodymyr Zelensky and his wife in the first trip to the country by a British royal since the conflict with Russia began, Buckingham Palace said on Monday.
Sophie, 59, is the wife of King Charles’ youngest brother, Prince Edward.
“It’s true that women and girls pay the highest price in terms of human cost when it comes to the way that they are affected, the way that they can be used as weapons of war,” the princess said in a speech during the visit.
“Rape is used to demean, to degrade and to destroy, and we have to get better at trying to prevent that from happening,” she added.
The foreign office said Sophie paid her respects to those who lost their lives in Bucha, a town near Kyiv where Russian forces are accused of committing war crimes including executions and rapes before it was recaptured two years ago.