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lite.cnn.com - on gopher - inofficial | |
ARTICLE VIEW: | |
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First British royal visits Ukraine since Russian invasion began | |
By Catherine Nicholls, CNN | |
Updated: | |
6:16 AM EDT, Tue April 30, 2024 | |
Source: CNN | |
The Duchess of Edinburgh has become the first member of the British | |
royal family to visit Ukraine since Russia’s invasion in 2022, | |
Buckingham Palace announced on Monday. | |
Sophie, the Duchess of Edinburgh, who is the wife of Prince Edward, | |
King Charles’ youngest sibling, travelled to Ukraine on Monday to | |
“show her solidarity with survivors of conflict-related sexual | |
violence and torture,” the palace said. | |
The duchess is a champion of the UK’s Preventing Sexual Violence in | |
Conflict Initiative and the United Nations’ Women, Peace and Security | |
Agenda. | |
Sophie met survivors of conflict-related sexual violence and torture, | |
as well as children who were allegedly by Russia, according to� | |
Buckingham Palace. | |
“Survivors here and around the world have spoken out so bravely about | |
their experiences,” the Duchess of Edinburgh said. “They are the | |
most powerful advocates who remind us all that we must not turn our | |
backs on the horrors of this crime, we must never forget survivors.” | |
“Rather, we must stand shoulder to shoulder with all survivors to | |
secure justice and holistic redress, and ensure that this crime isn’t | |
an accepted part of conflict,” she said, adding that the survivors’ | |
“rights and their voices must be at the heart of all our efforts to | |
consign conflict-related sexual violence to the history books.” | |
The UN’s Special Representative on Sexual Violence in Conflict that | |
Russia used rape and sexual violence as a “military strategy” in | |
its war against Ukraine. CNN could not independently verify the UN’s | |
claims. Russia has denied allegations of war crimes in Ukraine. | |
Sophie paid her respects to those who died in Bucha, a suburb of the | |
Ukrainian capital Kyiv, which was briefly occupied by Russia at the | |
start of its full-scale invasion. , including women, children and the | |
elderly, were killed indiscriminately during the month-long occupation. | |
The duchess also met with Ukraine’s President Volodymyr Zelensky and | |
First Lady Olena Zelenska to discuss support for survivors of | |
conflict-related sexual violence, as well as the role of women in | |
ensuring that Ukraine’s “recovery and reconstruction is effective | |
and long-lasting,” Buckingham Palace said. | |
Sophie has previously visited countries including Kosovo, Sierra Leone, | |
South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Colombia to | |
highlight the impact of conflict on survivors, hearing first-hand | |
accounts from those who have experienced conflict-related sexual | |
violence. | |
In March 2023, to meet British and Polish troops and learn more | |
about their collaboration in supporting Ukraine. | |
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