Ukrainians protest outside Russian Embassy
“Arbitrary detentions of civilians, torture and rape are widespread” says protestor
Ukrainians and their supporters protested outside the Russian Embassy in Pretoria on the 3rd anniversary of the invasion of Ukraine on Monday morning. Photo: Ihsaan Haffejee
Pro-Ukrainian protests on Sunday and Monday were interrupted by supporters of a rival of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy in Pretoria, and by pro-Russia supporters in Durban.
The two protests followed one in Cape Town on Friday and were organised by the Ukrainian Association of South Africa (UAZA). The protests came three years after the Russian invasion of Ukraine on 24 February 2022.
Pretoria
On Monday, 30 people gathered outside the Russian Embassy in Pretoria to protest against Russian war crimes. They called for peace in Ukraine.
Dzvinka Kachur, the Honorary President of the UAZA said that the protest was held outside the Russian Embassy to remind those inside of the immense human suffering that the Russian invasion has caused the people of Ukraine. “We also want to honour the people who have sacrificed so much to defend Ukraine for the past three years against the invasion,” said Kachur.
The protest was disturbed by a group of about ten young men waving posters bearing the face of Oleksii Arestovych. Arestovych, a controversial figure, was a former advisor to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy who had fled Ukraine after being accused of being a Russian spy by Ukrainian state officials. He plans to run for president against Zelenskyy at the next election.
Police had to intervene to keep the groups separated. It was unclear from discussions with the group as to who had sent them and which organisation they represented.
Both groups eventually dispersed peacefully.
Durban
On Sunday, over 35 people gathered at the Whalebone Pier in Umhlanga to protest the ongoing conflict in Ukraine. Members of the South Durban Community Environmental Alliance (SDCEA), an environmental justice organisation based in South Durban, joined UAZA members in solidarity.
Katya Fedkina, a representative of UAZA, addressed the crowd: “People in the occupied territory live under constant pressure. Arbitrary detentions of civilians, torture and rape are widespread. Many are too afraid to leave their homes. They’re forced to accept Russian citizenship. If they refuse they risk having their children taken away.”
Shortly after the protest began a group of pro-Russia protesters interrupted the rally. The group stood in front of the pro-Ukraine protesters and waved Russian flags for about a minute before being moved up the road by the police.
Xolini Mazibuzo, who spoke for the pro-Russia group, stated that they had come to disrupt UAZA’s protest under the instruction of Sibusiso Mpanza, a community leader from Clayfield, Phoenix. All of the protesters had come from Clayfield, said Mazibuzo.
Mazibuzo said that the reason they had chosen to side with Russia was for economic reasons.
Ukrainians in Durban protest against the Russian invasion and Vladimir Putin. Photo: Joseph Bracken
Iryna Vesela, a member of UAZA who attended the protest with her daughter, said they were there to raise awareness and remind people that “people [in Ukraine] are dying, and they don’t have to die”.
Vesela, who grew up in the former Soviet Union and has a brother serving in the Ukrainian army, said the people protesting the invasion do not “hate Russia” and that the message of the protest was one of peace.
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