Ukraine ambassador to Kenya admits African students were mistreated after Russian invasion

Ukrainian ambassador to Kenya Andriy Pravednyk has acknowledged that African students, indeed, suffered abuse while fleeing the country after the Russian invasion in February.

There were widespread first-hand accounts of African students fleeing the country in February, who said they faced segregation, racism and abuse at the country's borders.

The African Union even came out to speak against the matter, saying it was "disturbed" by the reports of segregation against Africans in Ukraine, which it described as "shockingly racist."

Ambassador Pravednyk on Tuesday confessed to the alleged mistreatment, mostly at the border points, terming them ‘scattered cases’ which are not representative of Ukraine’s attitude towards Africans.

“When the invasion started, it was a very, very challenging situation. Hundreds of thousands of people were trying to flee from Ukraine, among them thousands of African students. I have to be honest with you and acknowledge the fact that there were a few occasions where African students were treated in not right ways,” the diplomat told Spice FM.

“I would like to apologise for that, although I am convinced that even the scattered cases which took place were not intentional or in any way to show the superiority of Ukrainians over African people.”

He further noted that Ukrainian border officials were overwhelmed by developments of the invasion, something he said took a toll on their performance.

“Ukrainian border guards were so hard 24/7 that probably, on some occasions, they were not polite enough… Believe me, we really care about African students who were studying in Ukraine whose dreams were ruined as a result of that unjustified invasion,” said Pravednyk.

Representatives from the three African nations on the UN Security Council; Kenya, Ghana, and Gabon all condemned the discrimination reports during a meeting at the UN HQ in New York City in March.

"In the unfolding emergency, there have been disturbing reports about the racist treatment of Africans and people of African descent seeking to flee Ukraine to safety. The media is covering these appalling incidents and several states have confirmed that their citizens are suffering such treatment. We strongly condemn this racism and believe that it is damaging to the spirit of solidarity that is so urgently needed today.

"In the unfolding emergency, there have been disturbing reports about the racist treatment of Africans and people of African descent seeking to flee Ukraine to safety. The media is covering these appalling incidents and several states have confirmed that their citizens are suffering such treatment. We strongly condemn this racism and believe that it is damaging to the spirit of solidarity that is so urgently needed today.

The 54-member bloc urged countries to "show the same empathy and support to all people fleeing war notwithstanding their racial identity."

Kimani at the time added that the Security Council needs "to be able to understand that there are actors who want to magnify this story for cynical reasons that have nothing to do with the wellbeing and safety of Africans."

In recent developments, much of the fighting in Ukraine is currently centred in the eastern Donbas region. Russian forces, however, also regularly fire on cities in many other parts of the country, including on Thursday in Vinnytsia, hundreds of kilometres from the front lines.

On Friday, Russia's Defense Ministry said it was targeting a meeting between military officials and foreign arms suppliers.

Late Friday, Russian missiles hit the central city of Dnipro, killing three people and wounding 15 others, governor Valentyn Reznychenko said on Telegram. The governor said a factory and surrounding streets were hit.

U.S. and Ukrainian officials have said U.S. rocket systems provided to Ukraine are having a large impact in the fight against Russia, helping Ukrainian forces to hold off Russia’s military in the eastern Donbas region.