• Prince Harry and Meghan Markle emphasized the valor of Team Ukraine at the Invictus Games in The Hague.
• The spotlight on a global scale proved to be a turning moment.
• President Volodymyr Zelensky granted several of Team Ukraine’s Invictus Games competitors special leave so they could compete.

In April, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle emphasized the valor of Team Ukraine at the Invictus Games in The Hague. For one captured Invictus Games athlete, Yuliia “Taira” Paievska, a paramedic, the spotlight on a global scale proved to be a turning moment.

President Volodymyr Zelensky granted several of Team Ukraine’s Invictus Games competitors special leave so they could compete. Paievska, a team member, was taken prisoner by Russian troops in Mariupol prior to the Games, therefore she did not make it. Her daughter, Anna-Sofia Puzanova, went in her place to the Invictus Games to raise awareness of her mother’s tale.

Paievska was freed by the Russians in June, and she attributes her survival to the global exposure she received during the Invictus Games.

“I owe Prince Harry a great deal since it was only after the Invictus Games that the Russians ceased torturing and interrogating me. I believe that the decision to trade me in a prisoner exchange was influenced by disseminating the word to the entire globe “the Telegraph, she said.

Now, Paievska revealed that a week after she was freed from Russian captivity, the Duke of Sussex called her. He stated that “the Invictus Games family always takes care of its members” and that “he supports Ukraine and all of us.” Prince Harry spoke “strongly and passionately” about Ukraine, she added.

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Paievska added that the Invictus Games the next year are what are assisting her in overcoming her captivity. She admitted, “I still get fatigued extremely easily and sometimes collapse. “I believe the drive to attend the Invictus Games the next year will ultimately bring me together.”

The Sussexes have previously supported Ukrainians; in March, they announced gifts to a number of organizations, including Chef José Andrés’ World Central Kitchen, that benefit Ukrainians.

During the Invictus Games, Harry told BBC News, “I think what people need to remember, or maybe maybe don’t know yet, is the vast majority of the Ukrainian team was serving in some shape or form.” They took off their uniforms, put on their team uniforms, hopped on the bus, came over here, tried to decompress by sleeping for a couple of days, and then got right into it.

He said, “So they’ve got to go back to the war.” Being here with them is extraordinary.

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