Prince Harry has also made a surprise visit to Kyiv after an invitation from the Ukrainian government, saying he wanted to do “everything possible” to help the recovery of the thousands of military personnel who have been seriously injured in the three-year war against Russia.
During the trip to the Ukrainian capital, he and a team from his Invictus Games Foundation are set to detail new initiatives to support the rehabilitation of the wounded, with the eventual aim of providing help to all areas of the country.
Earlier this year it was estimated that the Ukraine war had already left 130,000 people with permanent disabilities – and the government has now put rehabilitation through sport at the heart of its policy for helping veterans.
Speaking to the Guardian on an overnight train to the capital, the Duke of Sussex said: “We cannot stop the war but what we can do is do everything we can to help the recovery process.”
He added: “We can continue to humanise the people involved in this war and what they are going through. We have to keep it in the forefront of people’s minds. I hope this trip will help to bring it home to people because it’s easy to become desensitised to what has been going on.”
Overnight, Sikorski also appeared on Fox News, saying “it’s hard to believe” that the incursions could have been a mistake.
He also said:
“We need to change Vladimir Putin’s calculations. We need to convince him that he cannot conquer Ukraine at an acceptable cost. And to do that, we need to impose tougher sanctions on Russia.
We need to starve Russia of the resources to continue prosecuting this criminal war.”
In a bruising comment on Trump’s recent decisions on Russia, he added:
We were supposed to have sanctions, and instead, we got Alaska. And since then, as you say, attacks have intensified.
Poland’s foreign minister Radosław Sikorski is in Kyiv today on a previously unannounced visit.
In a short video clip in front of the Polish embassy in Kyiv, seemingly intended to respond to Trump’s comments overnight, he appeared with Poland’s chargé d’affaires in Kyiv, Piotr Łukasiewicz.
“Minister, I report that after the recent drone and missile attack on Kyiv, the damage to our embassy and consulates has been repaired, and we are operating normally under these conditions,” Łukasiewicz said.
Sikorski replied:
“On the night when 19 Russian drones flew over Poland, over 400 drones and 40 missiles flew over Ukraine. These were not mistakes.”
Poland’s political leadership appears increasingly concerned by the muted US response to Thursday’s Russian drone incursion into Polish airspace.
As more and more European partners condemn the incident and declare their support for Poland with concrete offers of help, the US president, Donald Trump, appeared to be more dismissive last night as he said it “could have been an mistake”.
“Regardless, I’m not happy about anything having to do with that whole situation,” Trump told reporters, before adding in general terms: “But hopefully it’s going to come to an end.”
Overnight, Poland’s deputy prime minister and foreign minister, Radosław Sikorski, said simply: “No, it wasn’t a mistake.”
This was further followed by the country’s prime minister, Donald Tusk.
“We would also wish that the drone attack on Poland was a mistake. But it wasn’t. And we know it,” Tusk said in a pointed social media rebuttal in English this morning.
The diplomatic offensive comes hours before the UN security council gathers in New York to discuss the incident on Poland’s request and we will no doubt hear more from Poland and its European allies in the build up to the meeting.
It’s Friday, 12 September 2025, it’s Jakub Krupa here, and this is Europe Live.
Good morning.