Zelenskyy urges African leaders to press Putin on release of political prisoners
apnews.com
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has appealed to a group of African leaders to ask his Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, to free political prisoners from Crimea and beyond — saying it could be an important part of their trip to Russia on Saturday. Seven African leaders — presidents of Comoros, Senegal, South Africa and Zambia, as well as Egypt’s prime minister and top envoys from the Republic of Congo and Uganda — visited Ukraine on Friday as part of a self-styled “peace mission” to both Ukraine and Russia to try to help end their nearly 16-month-old war. The African leaders were traveling to meet with Putin on Saturday in the Russian city of St. Petersburg.

South African President Cyril Ramaphosa has arrived in Ukraine in a delegation of African leaders and senior officials seeking ways to end Kyiv’s 15-month war with Russia. Ramaphosa’s press service said he was met Friday by a Ukrainian special envoy and South Africa’s ambassador at a rail station near Bucha. That’s the Kyiv suburb where bodies of civilians lay scattered in the streets following Russian forces’ withdrawal last spring. The African delegation includes senior officials from Zambia, Senegal, Uganda, Egypt, the Republic of the Congo and the Comoro Islands. Ramaphosa said last month that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy and Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed to separate meetings with the delegation.