Some African leaders led by South African president, Cyril Ramaphosa have arrived in the Ukrainian capital Kyiv as they embark on a peace mission.
They are in the country to meet with Ukraine’s leader, Volodymyr Zelensky as they better understand the severity of Russia’s invasion of the country and the ongoing war.
But they were met already by an air raid alert issued in the city and the region after the Ukrainian air force said several Russian Kalibr missiles had been launched from the Black Sea and were “heading north” towards Kyiv.
Russian missile attacks ramped up this week on Kyiv, Odesa, and President Zelensky’s hometown of Kryvyi Rih, killing several people.
Ukraine’s Defence Minister Dmytro Kuleba said in a tweet that the missiles targeting Kyiv are a message to the African leaders visiting Ukraine.
Putin “builds confidence” by launching the largest missile attack on Kyiv in weeks, exactly amid the visit of African leaders to our capital. Russian missiles are a message to Africa: Russia wants more war, not peace.
— Dmytro Kuleba (@DmytroKuleba) June 16, 2023
The African delegations are from seven African countries, including South Africa, Egypt and Senegal.
The African leaders during their meeting with Ukrainian president Zelensky would suggest compromises for a peace deal.
The document states that the objective of the mission is “to promote the importance of peace and to encourage the parties to agree to a diplomacy-led process of negotiations”.
The South African government said “The Heads of State and Government [will] visit the mass grave located behind the St Andrew’s Orthodox Church where 458 civilians who lost their lives during the initial stages of the conflict are buried.
The Heads of State & Government participated in a short commemoration ceremony at the Memorial Cross.”
#AfricanPeaceMission The Heads of State & Government visit the mass grave located behind the St Andrew’s Orthodox Church where 458 civilians who lost their lives during the initial stages of the conflict are buried. The Heads of State & Government participated in a short… pic.twitter.com/A5Rn7RyYNf
— Presidency | South Africa 🇿🇦 (@PresidencyZA) June 16, 2023
Source: Africafeeds.com
