DZVINKA KACHUR: While Putin bombs hospitals, SA denies visas to Ukrainians

The statistics provided by the UN International Children’s Emergency Fund outlining the atrocities committed by the Russian military in Ukraine are horrifying, and the details more horrific still. On March 9 Russian forces destroyed a children’s hospital in Mariupol. The children killed in the assault have been added to these statistics — and the numbers rise daily.

Ukraine has a long-standing relationship with Africa, and SA. When still one of the 15 republics of the Soviet Union, it offered refuge to SA anti-apartheid activists. From 1963 to 1965 Ukraine welcomed ANC cadres to Odesa, training 328 activists — including Joe Modise (known then as Thabo More), Moses Mabhida and Ronnie Kasrils. Sindiso Mfenyana, an exiled Umkhonto we Sizwe member and member of the ANC national executive committee, diplomat and the first black full secretary to parliament, called Kyiv his second home.

Yet, while supporting anticolonial movements on the African continent, the Soviet Union was crushing her own population with propaganda, totalitarian repression and human rights violations. As far back as 1932, in response to the huge uprising of farmers who were not willing to give up their private land to the state, the Soviets initiated Holodomor — a man-made famine in Ukraine in which military forces confiscated food from peasant homes — even porridge cooking on the stove. An account of this genocide can be found in Polish-American historian Anne Applebaum’s book, Red Famine: Stalin’s War On Ukraine.

History is not linear. It is complex and often the victim of manipulation. It is only when a light is shone on it, and open, safe conversation draws on the experience of multiple individuals and their stories, that a common truth emerges. The open access to documents and historical facts is critical to understand the past.

This was why in 2015 the Ukrainian government opened all World War 2 and Soviet KGB archives to the public, and why thousands of volunteers collected personal stories from survivors of Holodomor in Ukraine. Much like SA’s Truth & Reconciliation Commission, Ukraine sought truth, and through truth healing.

However, KGB archives remain closed to researchers and the public in Russia. Furthermore, changes to the Russian constitution in 2020 restricted conversations that could “diminish the significance of the feat of the people in the defence of the Fatherland”. These changes in effect criminalised historical research into Stalin’s repressive methods, the agreements between Russia and Germany during World War 2, and many other atrocities. Conversation, research and reporting on both in the recent past and the present that Vladimir Putin could categorise as a threat to the “defence of the Fatherland”, are criminalised.

Our sources in Ukraine have shared horror stories of the reality on the ground. We know thousands of Russian soldiers have been killed in the fighting. Russia refuses to accept their bodies and return them to their families. Russian citizens, brave enough to peacefully protest against the war, have been arrested by their thousands. On March 5 Putin signed new legislation that allows imprisonment of up to 15 years for sharing information about the war in Ukraine. Denied information, the Russian populace is easy to manipulate.

Putin’s narrative includes the claim that Ukraine is a Nazi state — dominated by fascist-style oppression and the corresponding genocide of Russian-speaking citizenry. Objective reports tell a different, more sinister story. The killing of up to 2,000 civilians in the territories of occupied eastern Ukraine were, according to the 2014-2016 UN report, “fuelled by the inflow of foreign fighters and weapons from the Russian Federation, and account for the majority of violations of the right to life in Ukraine over the last two years”.

Ramaphosa tweeted

While Putin’s claims are fiction, his invasion is real. On March 2 the Chief Rabbi of Ukraine, Moshe Reuven Azman, emotionally addressed rabbis, Jews in Russia and Russians generally: “People! Stop this war! Don’t believe what they are telling you on TV! They are lying!” In his speech, he condemned those who support, ignore or take a neutral stance on the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Yet, on March 10, when 1-million Ukrainian children were registered as refugees, President Cyril Ramaphosa tweeted: “Thanking His Excellency President Vladimir Putin for taking my call today so I could gain an understanding of the situation unfolding between Russia and Ukraine.” Russian media reported that Putin and Ramaphosa discussed the future Russia-Africa Summit and economic co-operation between SA and Russia. However, in the 17 days of the Russian invasion of Ukraine we still have not heard that Ramaphosa asked Putin to stop the invasion or called for a ceasefire.

March in SA is dedicated to reflection on human rights. During this time we should be aware that SA consulates worldwide are denying Ukrainians an opportunity to apply for visas. The SA consulates in Switzerland and the United Arab Emirates have sent Ukrainians seeking visas to apply in their country of origin, in Kyiv — under the pretence that they are unaware that diplomats at the SA embassy in Kyiv have fled and that the SA ambassador to Ukraine is in Hungary — leaving behind all critical documents and a way home for many trapped in Ukraine.

How cynical is it for SA diplomats to demand that Ukrainians apply for their visas in Kyiv? Children, siblings or parents of Ukrainians who permanently or temporarily reside in SA cannot come to SA. There is no visa process allowing them to apply in another country.

Until the last Ukrainian falls, we will fight for our country and our independence. The Mandela Foundation and Desmond Tutu Foundation have condemned this vicious invasion of a sovereign nation, and churches of all denominations are continuing to pray for the victims of this war. We feel the support from all those who uphold moral values and international law. The more united we stand, the more lives will be saved.

To add its voice to end the needless violence in Ukraine, the Ukrainian Association of SA calls on the SA government to publicly and without reservation condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine, and allow visa-free entrance to SA for Ukrainians whose family members are temporarily or permanently living in SA.

• A Ukrainian by birth, Kachur has been living in SA since 2011, supporting the monitoring and evaluation processes of nonprofit organisations.