Kyiv was rocked early Friday by explosions from Ukrainian air defenses responding to a missile attack launched by Russian forces shortly after a delegation of seven African leaders arrived by train to meet with President Volodymyr Zelensky. .
“Explosions in the capital. In the Podil area. In Kyiv there are still missiles in the air," wrote the city's mayor, Vitali Klichkó, on his Telegram account. The city's Military Administration confirmed that the anti-aircraft defenses were activated to face the attack.
The African delegation, which includes the leaders of South Africa, Senegal, the Comoros and Egypt, is expected to meet Zelensky on Friday and Russian President Vladimir Putin in Saint Petersburg on Saturday.
A witness in central Kyiv told Reuters that he heard two explosions. Klitchkó also reported explosions in the central Podil district and warned that more missiles were heading towards the capital.
Another Reuters correspondent in the capital saw the trail of smoke from two missiles in the air. Separately, a Reuters television crew watched African leaders arrive in Kyiv in a car convoy and enter a hotel to use their bomb shelter.
The leaders began their visit with a trip to Bucha, near Kyiv, one of several places where Ukraine says Russian troops have committed large-scale atrocities following their invasion in February 2022. Russia denies the allegations.
The African peacekeeping mission, which includes South African President Cyril Ramaphosa and Senegalese President Macky Sall, may propose a series of "confidence-building measures" during initial mediation efforts, according to a draft framework document seen by Reuters. .
The document states that the objective of the mission is "to promote the importance of peace and encourage the parties to agree to a process of negotiations led by diplomacy."
Those measures could include the withdrawal of Russian troops, the removal of Belarus' tactical nuclear weapons, the suspension of the implementation of an arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court against Putin and the easing of sanctions.
This could be followed by a cessation of hostilities agreement and should be accompanied by negotiations between Russia and the West, according to the document.
Ramaphosa's presence is especially significant given that South Africa, a country that is part of the International Criminal Court, is hosting the next BRICS summit (alliance of the so-called emerging economies made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). ) scheduled for next August and to which Vladimir Putin is invited. As a member country of the ICC, South Africa would be obliged to arrest the Russian president in case he set foot in his country. At the moment, Moscow has not confirmed whether Putin will travel to Durban nor has Pretoria wanted to clarify how he would proceed if the president showed up for the appointment.
The mission comes shortly after the start of a Ukrainian counter-offensive that has pushed back Russian forces in some areas, though Kyiv has recaptured only a fraction of the territory Russian forces hold in Ukraine.
Kyiv says its own peace initiative, which calls for the withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory, must be the basis for any resolution of the conflict.
