Durban - Many South Africans are misled that their country owes loyalty to Russia in the Ukraine War.
This is according to Durban representative of the Ukrainian Association in SA Katya Fedkina, at Saturday afternoon’s protest in uMhlanga against the naval exercise being held with the Russian Navy off the KZN coast.
“It was the Soviet Union that helped the ANC during the struggle against apartheid but Russia has become synonymous with the Soviet Union,” she said.
“Ukraine was also part of the Soviet Union and there was even a training base for the ANC near (the Ukraine port of) Odessa.”
The website South African History Online (SAHO), in an article titled “The Union of Soviet Socialist Republics (USSR) and the Anti-Apartheid Struggle”, mentions that “between 1963 and 1965, 328 cadres were trained at Odessa”.
The SAHO website says it is linked to a partnership programme with universities, schools and community-based history projects.
Fedkina said she was forever worried about her family “living underground, without electricity and in the cold” as the Russian bombs dropped nearby, destroying infrastructure.
Her father and his wife had made it out of the country to Georgia, to which many anti-war Russians had also fled, and was in the intensive care unit of a hospital suffering from Covid.
“He has to pay for his treatment. He cannot receive the free health care available to him in Ukraine.”
She also warned South Africans to “wake up” about Russian expansionism, saying that South Africa too was vulnerable to it.
“You cannot trust Russia,” she stressed.
She said watching South Africa behave so much in Russia’s favour was “deeply, deeply disappointing”.
“It doesn’t look like a smart move for a country that stands for freedom and human rights.”
The Russo-Ukraine conflict has been the subject of discussion at the UN General Assembly and has had several resolutions which have been voted on by member states. One of the first resolutions, which was condemning Russia’s actions in Ukraine and asking Moscow to stop its invasion of its neighbour, elicited mixed responses from member states who either voted for, against or abstained from the resolution.
While the US and its western allies called for the outright condemnation of Russia, countries such as South Africa and China elected to abstain, insisting on dialogue to resolve the conflict.
The protest, which started at 4pm at the Whalebone Pier, followed a similar one in Cape Town earlier this week against the presence of Russian naval vessels taking part in Exercise Mosi II with vessels from the Chinese and South African navies off the KZN coast.
Cape Town protesters sailed in a yacht close to the visiting Russian frigate Admiral Gorshkov.
The Ukrainian Association of SA has pointed out that the exercise, which started yesterday (Friday) will still be in progress next Friday, the anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
“The South Africa government has welcomed Russian military aggression into the previously peaceful waters of the Southern Ocean,” read their statement.
“This not only sends a signal of South African alignment with the aggressor that violates the UN Charter but also creates a risk for further confrontation between South Africa and its other trading partners.”
It went on to say that Ukraine, like South Africa, had given up its nuclear weapons. In Ukraine’s case it had handed them over to Russia in return for protection in the case of violation of Ukrainian sovereignty and territorial integrity by Russia, UK and USA.
“Ironically, Russia has violated Ukraine’s sovereignty and is now threatening the use of nuclear weapons in the conflict against Ukraine.
“Our concern is that these visiting vessels may be armed with nuclear weapons.”
The association called on the South African government to ensure that no nuclear weapons are brought into South African waters during the exercise.
The Independent on Saturday