Ukraine - The African Mirror

Mar

2022

Ukraine: U.N. calls for open borders for fleeing Africans

THE U.N. refugee agency has urged authorities in countries neighbouring Ukraine to open their borders to African citizens fleeing the conflict there amid reports that some were being denied access to safety, UNHCR has said. Thousands of African and other foreign nationals, particularly students, have been scrambling to leave Ukraine since Russia's invasion on February 24. Close to 700,000 people fleeing Ukraine have been taken in by neighbouring countries in the European Union. Videos and testimonies have been circulating on social media complaining of discrimination against Africans at train stations and border posts. Reuters has not been able to authenticate these…

Mar

2022

By The African Mirror

25 African countries support UN motion against Russia, 16 abstain

NEWS

AFRICAN MIRROR REPORTER TWENTY-FIVE African countries voted in support of the historic vote at the United Nations condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, while 16 countries abstained from the vote. Only one African country - Eritrea - opposed the UN resolution which was supported by 141 countries. Eritrea rejected the resolution along with North Korea, Belarus, Syria and Russia. The resolution demanded that Russian Federation should “immediately, completely, and unconditionally withdraw all of its military forces from the territory of Ukraine within its internationally recognized borders." UN General Assembly resolutions, although politically significant, are not legally binding, meaning the decision will…

Mar

2022

By The African Mirror

AU condemns ill treatment of Africans in Ukraine

WORLD

THE African Union (AU) said that it was disturbed by reports that African citizens in Ukraine are being refused the right to cross borders to safety as they try to flee the conflict in Ukraine. Thousands of African and other foreign nationals, particularly students, have been scrambling to leave Ukraine following Russia's invasion. But as hundreds of thousands throng to Ukraine's borders, overwhelming authorities in neighbouring countries, reports have emerged that Africans are being treated differently and sometimes prevented from leaving. Senegal's President Macky Sall speaks at a news conference on the second day of a European Union (EU) African…

Mar

2022

By The African Mirror

IOC recommends banning Russian, Belarusian athletes from international events

SPORT

MANASI PATHAK THE International Olympic Committee's executive board has recommended sports federations ban Russian and Belarusian athletes and officials from competing in events following Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The IOC said the executive board made the decision "in order to protect the integrity of global sports competitions and for the safety of all the participants" and that the body was acting with a "heavy heart". The Russian Olympic Committee categorically disagreed with the IOC, saying the decision "contradicts both the regulatory documents of the IOC and the (Olympic) Charter". "As a first step, we consider it necessary to send requests…

Mar

2022

By The African Mirror

Mothers, babies shelter in basement of children’s hospital in Kyiv

WORLD

ALEKSANDAR VASOVIC IN the dingy basement of Ohmatdyt Children's Hospital in Kyiv, mothers and babies find what comfort they can on makeshift beds and blankets laid out on either side of the concrete aisle. Older children who are too sick to go home or flee the capital with their families following Russia's invasion of Ukraine are also adjusting to life under siege, staying away from windows and lying in corridors on intravenous drips. Staff, patients and their families share Ukrainians' sense of shock at being caught in a conflict few could have foreseen even a few days ago. Like others,…

Dec

2021

By The African Mirror

Ukrainians near conflict zone try to guess Putin’s next move

WORLD

MARGARYTA CHORNOKONDRATENKO ANATOLIY Hrebeniuk was a child of the Soviet Union - he grew up after World War Two in a land where Russians and Ukrainians were united as neighbours within the bloc. Today he lives some 50 km (30 miles) from the front line of fighting between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists in a conflict that has simmered for seven years. If Kyiv's worst fears are realised, the region could soon be subsumed in a wider war between Russia and Ukraine. "We have a huge fear that Russia will come here again. We have a huge fear. It…

Aug

2021

By The African Mirror

Head of Belarusian exile group found hanged in Ukraine, police open murder case

WORLD

NATALIA ZINETS and MARGARYTA CHORNOKONDRATENKO A Belarusian activist living in exile in Ukraine was found hanged in a park near his home in Kyiv early on Tuesday, and Ukrainian police launched a murder investigation. Vitaly Shishov, who led a Kyiv-based organisation that helps Belarusians fleeing persecution, had been reported missing by his partner on Monday after failing to return home from a run. Police said they were considering the possibility of suicide or of a murder staged to appear as a suicide. Shishov had been found with abrasions on his nose and knee but it was too early to determine…

Jul

2021

By The African Mirror

Foreign ministers of more than a dozen countries condemn mass arrests in Cuba

WORLD

THE foreign ministers of the United States and 20 other countries have condemned mass arrests in Cuba and called for full restoration of Internet access in the island nation that has recently been rocked by political unrest. The joint statement was issued by the governments of Austria, Brazil, Colombia, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, Guatemala, Greece, Honduras, Israel, Latvia, Lithuania, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Poland, Republic of Korea, and Ukraine, alongside the United States. "Democracies around the world are coming together to support the Cuban people, calling on the Cuban government to respect Cubans' demands for universal human rights,"…