The spokesperson for South Africa’s president has drawn criticism for suggesting a Russian missile attack on Kyiv on Friday didn’t happen and was “deliberate misinformation.”
Vincent Magwenya arrived in the Ukrainian capital on Friday morning, June 16, as part of an African delegation attempting to broker a peace deal between Russia and Ukraine.
Shortly after they arrived, Kyiv was targeted by a Russian missile attack. Kyiv Post reporters – as well as every other media organisation present in the city – saw and heard the missiles in the skies over the capital, and witnessed several loud explosions as they were intercepted.
South African President Ramaphosa himself, during a press conference after meeting Ukrainian President Zelensky, acknowledged reports of missile strikes and expressed concern that such things hinder peace efforts.
Despite this, Magwenya told South African news outlet News 24 that he had not witnessed anything to suggest an attack took place.
“It's very strange that we didn't hear or see an explosion,” he said. “There's obviously some deliberate misinformation being spread here. People are going on about their day.”
Such is the frequency of air raid sirens and actual attacks in Kyiv that many people – either through choice or necessity due to work commitments for example – do not go to bomb shelters and instead carry on as normal, a fact Magwenya misinterpreted as evidence the attack did not occur.
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Referring to a short video he posted on Twitter around the time the air alert was in place, he said of the reports of explosions: “From my own experience and those I am travelling with, yes, I am disputing it. Watch the video I shared.
“We were all perplexed when we were taken back to the hotel and passed streets where people were going on about their day as normal. It's very strange and is, in a way, deliberate misinformation.”
He added: “As we expected this mission was never going to be easy but some of the hurdles are deeply disturbing, like the treatment you all received and others outright amusing, like this so-called explosion.”
Magwenya’s comments were swiftly taken up by Russian state media as evidence the missile attack was faked.
His comments drew heavy criticism on social media, with British journalist Oz Katerji saying: “Vincent Magwenya, I had never heard of you before today, but congratulations for making it to my ‘biggest liars in the world’ list in under 24 hours. That’s a new record.”
Following the Kyiv visit, the African delegation will travel to St. Petersburg, Russia, where they will meet President Vladimir Putin on June 17.
But the neutrality of some of those has been questioned. South Africa has refused to condemn Moscow’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine and has only deepened military ties with Russia since it began.
In an article for Kyiv Post, Ukrainian MP and Chair of the Foreign Relations Committee, Oleksandr Merezhko, said there are “serious questions around credibility where the so-called ‘neutrality’ of member nations is concerned.”
He added: “Moreover, it is very difficult for Ukrainians to accept the neutral character of some members of the African delegation, including South Africa and Uganda, the latter whose president Yoweri Museveni has said that he saw no reason to criticize Russia after the invasion in extolling its virtues, and whose son, the army commander, welcomed the Russian invasion.
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