Surviving Russia: The horrors of war have only strengthened the bonds between Ukraine and Africa  

I have the honor of representing my country, Ukraine, in the southern region of Africa. Russia’s genocidal war against my country has fundamentally changed bilateral relations between Ukraine and many African nations.  

First, there are huge misconceptions about Ukrainian-African relations: People tend to view them as insignificant, but they’re not.  

We build our bilateral relations through economic, cultural and diplomatic means. We’ve imported and exported products, built a strong tourism base and worked on opening our countries for educational collaboration. We create such cooperation on a foundation of mutual respect and the hopes of a sustainable partnership for all parties involved.  

Unlike some countries, we aren’t trying to open military bases, we aren’t aiming to influence elections and we aren’t investing millions into propaganda. I must admit we should have been more aware of how significant Ukraine’s bilateral relations with Africa have always been and are. It is a real shame that it took a war to shed light on and amplify the importance of our cooperation and its significance in global stability and security. I’m still going to praise us for the effort. 

Before the COVID-19 pandemic, we were on the right path: In 2019, Africa made up almost 10 percent of our exports. Moreover, most of our goods, 77 percent, were consumed by Arab countries in North Africa, while Sub-Saharan Africa accounted for 23 percent.  

And the possibilities for further cooperation were endless. Ukraine and Africa have gradually strengthened their bilateral relations for years, focusing significantly on economic cooperation, particularly in trade and investment. Ukraine has also been involved in various African sectors, including agriculture, manufacturing, energy and infrastructure development. 

Unfortunately, we were taken back by the world pandemic — and for Ukrainians particularly, the hard times never stopped. When the first Russian missiles hit our cities, we were still wearing masks and had COVID restrictions. And though Russia’s goal of domination was aimed only at Ukrainians, this approach backfired and echoed around the world.  

Vladimir Putin’s plans to take over Ukraine in “three days” miserably failed. Some African countries took a huge hit along with us, as gloomy prospects of the food crisis to come and rising prices due to unabated Russian aggression set in.  

It’s now been more than 800 days of Russia’s genocidal war. We are still standing.  

We stand because of the bravery, dedication and love for democratic values and freedom that has emanated from our people across our country, thanks to unprecedented international support. After we’ve been able to free some parts of Ukraine and more or less stabilize others long enough to look around and evaluate our national priorities, it’s become apparent that building, rebuilding and finally shedding light on the importance of Ukraine-African cooperation, not only for Ukraine and African countries but for the whole planet, is paramount.   

Our voices matter, and they can be quite loud. We have more in common with one another than not. If you look at our histories, you’ll find many similarities: We’ve been victims of oppression, colonialism, genocide, man-made famines and disregard for human rights. That is why we need to stand together on the side that matters most — the side of humanity. 

As Russia’s war of aggression against Ukraine continues to affect the entire world, we need to acknowledge that it affects our sides — Ukrainian and African — on a much grander scale. We need to stand together if only to protect and safeguard world food security. Food security is, was and always will be one of the critical elements of a peaceful world. We must strive for the unobstructed implementation of effective mechanisms to guarantee global food security; this should always be our top priority.  

Russia has been bombing our grain silos, destroying port infrastructure and mining our fields for years. The world needs to grasp the horrifying reality that much of our fertile soil, the best in the world, has now been turned into a wasteland and will remain that way for decades to come.  

Russia has created an ecological disaster that will burden our planet for a very long time. Our land has been hit by thousands upon thousands long-range missiles, drones and aerial bombs — more than 3,200 guided bombs in April alone. As you can imagine, that land is dead and can’t be used for agriculture.  

They’ve attacked and blocked our Black Sea Grain Initiative, which was broken down by the United Nations (U.N.) and Turkey as a crucial instrument to secure food exports from Ukraine to the rest of the world. In addition, Russia has stolen millions of tons of Ukrainian grain worth about $1 billion and continues to weaponize food.  

Ukraine needs to grow produce to survive, and Africa needs that grain to reach the world to overcome food shortages and keep the prices low. We need to stand strong together and loudly voice our demands and concerns. 

As a Ukrainian diplomat serving my country on the African continent, I’m proud that, over the years, Ukraine has consistently defended and promoted the interests of African states in the U.N. We initiated four resolutions against the de-colonization and the crime of apartheid. We supported peace in Africa by sending peacekeepers to the U.N. missions to the continent: in the Democratic Republic of the Congo, in South Sudan and in Mali. And in 2002, the U.N. General Assembly unanimously approved a resolution tabled by the Ukrainian delegation that proclaimed May 29 as the International Day of United Nations Peacekeepers. 

In its higher education institutions, Ukraine has taught thousands of citizens of many African countries, including from South Africa. Before Russia’s aggression, three African countries, Morocco, Nigeria and Egypt, were on the list of Top 10 countries by origin of foreign students in Ukraine.  

I’m proud to say that, from December 2023 to April 2024, Ukraine opened eight new resident embassies in Africa. The Ukrainian national flag has already been raised in the capitals of 16 African countries. 

The international order is fundamentally changing. This is our chance and duty to use the platform of the upcoming peace summit to hear each other and to speak for ourselves.  

Ukraine’s message to our African counterparts is quite simple: We want to continue to grow our cooperation. Russia unexpectedly put Ukraine-African relations on the map, and now we’ll make it our mission for them to stay there. Though oceans apart, our voices matter like never before today and will resound on the world stage. 

Liubov Abravitova is the ambassador extraordinary and plenipotentiary of Ukraine in the Republic of South Africa (RSA), Botswana and Mozambique.