Britain’s King Charles visited Ukrainian soldiers undergoing military training in southern England on Monday.

The visit was not announced to the soldiers undergoing the training until the morning of the day. The king was heard asking about the soldiers’ families as they underwent training by British and international soldiers.

“I am amazed by the ability to meet His Majesty the King today,” said one Ukrainian serviceman, surprised they had actually been visited by the king himself, and that he even approached them for a chat.

“And he was really interested in all of this. I feel light on my feet and I think it will sink in after a few days but meeting His Majesty in person has made my day,” said the soldier.

Britain has offered strong support to Ukraine since Russia’s invasion nearly a year ago, by means of delivering weapons and training Ukrainian troops.

General Patrick Sander, the Chief of Staff, said that so far the British have trained over 10,000 Ukrainian soldiers over the first six months of last year and that they are looking to train a further 20,000 this year. But it is not only the British that are involved.

“It’s an international effort. So we, the Brits, are training a third of those, and the rest are coming from international partners – a mixture of Kiwis [New Zealanders], Australians, Dutch, Lithuanians, you name it. It’s a really big pool,” said the Chief of Staff.