Pretoria – South Africa’s Ambassador to Ukraine Andre Groenewald on Friday said he is safe in the Eastern Europe country which has come under Russian bombardment following after Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered a “special military operation” in Ukraine.
“We are safe at this stage. It is as you have seen on television. It is exactly as it is and (it is) how we are experiencing it. For the moment, we are safe. We have had a great escalation of military incidents in the whole region,” Groenewald spoke to broadcaster eNCA from Kyiv, Ukraine.
“People are leaving. You can see the congestion outside of Kyiv and on the roads. The staff are safe. We are two South Africans here, and I just spoke to my colleague. The family is safe and confident. We actually went into the office yesterday to do some of the consular work and to make sure that even the salaries of the locals are paid.”
South Africa’s top diplomat in Ukraine said he was in his official residence in Kyiv, and “massive explosions” could be heard.
Groenewald said the majority of South African students in Ukraine are medical students admitted to different universities.
“We keep on speaking to them on WhatsApp and on telephones every time there is an explosion, and you would have seen in the news that there was a plane that crashed after it was shot down. It crashed in an area where there are a couple of South African students, and they immediately called, and their parents called, but we are here, we are doing our best to try and help,” he said.
“Yesterday, I sent a list of 110 students, including 30 South Africans and the rest were students from the rest of Africa who don’t have representation in Ukraine. I sent their names to the Polish ambassador, who then sent it to the border to facilitate their crossing.”
In the meantime, Groenewald said the Polish government had made it “much easier” for people to cross.
“I don’t even think they need our intervention anymore. They are looked after. They are provided with accommodation and a hot meal. So there is a lot of cooperation. Many ambassadors remain in Kyiv. I spoke to them this morning. India is still here, Spain is still here, and a couple of ambassadors are still in Kyiv,” he said.
The diplomat said he heard about some people who spent up to seven hours trying to leave Kyiv and ended up returning to their homes because of the traffic gridlock.
He said people, including him, were sleeping in basements, but surprisingly communication lines and electricity were still on.
“We are sleeping in the basements, as are the others. We have food at this moment, and I am very surprised we still have communication lines. We still have access to water and, of course, access to electricity. How long that will last, who knows?” said Groenewald.
At least 137 people have been killed and scores more injured, some critical, in the wake of Russia's deadly attack on Ukraine, which began on Thursday.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy said last night that 137 civilians and military personnel had been killed so far.
According to Al Jazeera, Ukraine’s military said it had destroyed four Russian tanks on a road near the eastern city of Kharkiv, killed 50 troops near a town in the Luhansk region and downed six Russian warplanes elsewhere in the east.
Early today, reports began streaming in about loud explosions being heard in Kyiv as the Russian army continued to force its way through Ukraine.
Calling it “the biggest attack on a European state since World War II”, Reuters said thousands of people had fled their homes in search of safety after Russian President Vladimir Putin declared war.
IOL