Prince William braves border of Ukraine to meet heroic troops aiding Zelensky's war effort
Prince William made an unannounced visit to Poland amid tight security today to visit British and Polish troops helping Ukraine's war effort against Russia.
Prince William, who has begun a two-day visit to Poland, went to military bases in Rzeszów in the south-east of the country near the Ukraine border, where the Royal Artillery and other British units are working with western allies to train Ukrainians and funnel weapons to troops resisting the Russian invasion. He hailed them for “defending our freedoms” and told the British troops: “Everyone back home thoroughly supports you.”
Related articles
She said: “I’ve never met any royalty before, so it was very exciting. It meant a lot to meet [the Prince]. It was quite special. My nan’s friend delivered him as a baby. I thought that was quite funny."
She said she might share the encounter with her grandmother’s friend later on.
LCpl Pettifer, who is two weeks into a six-month tour of Poland, said she told Prince William about her work training troops in first aid.
She added the royal visit was a “big deal” and people were “very excited” he was there.
William, arrived at the military base wearing a grey blazer, shirt, navy chinos and brown brogue-style shoes.
For security reasons, his visit had been shrouded in secrecy, with only palace officials and a small contingent of the travelling press privy to the arrangements.
William was greeted by Poland’s defence minister and deputy prime minister Mariusz Blaszczak, who wore a brown leather jacket, shirt and black trousers.
The deputy prime minister gave a speech in which he expressed his gratitude for the co-operation between British and Polish troops.
William spent time speaking to Mr Blaszczak and local dignitaries before meeting several groups of British and Polish troops to hear about their work supporting Ukraine.
He was shown a vast array of military equipment, including a Polish self-propelled howitzer artillery system that had a British turret.
Major Przemyslaw Garema, 35, a professional soldier in the brigade, showed the Prince the enormous artillery machine.
“It is very important equipment which Poland donated at the beginning of the war to the Ukraine, we delivered a few batteries then,” the Major said. “We have been training the Ukrainian soldiers in order to teach them how to use this.”
At his second engagement William thanked British troops based at an air defence base roughly an hour’s drive from the Ukrainian border for “defending our freedom”.
Dressed casually in a black puffer jacket and trousers, he was shown a missile launcher before meeting the troops.
“Just a big thank you for what you do on a day-to-day basis. I know some of you are coming to the end of your time out here. So looking forward to a bit of R n R when you get home. You are doing a really important job out here and defending our freedoms is really important and everyone back home thoroughly supports you. And everything you are doing with the Poles and our Polish counterparts in providing that safety is really important. Lovely to meet you and good luck.”
