Reports indicate that the South African Ambassador to Ukraine, Andre Groenewald, had to flee Kyiv when an armored Russian convoy approached the city.
Andre Groenewald told the press on Wednesday morning that as he packed his car to leave he heard explosions from a distance.
Accomoanying his wife, three children, and the last remaining embassy personnel, he is presently travelling south in a convoy of two trucks towards either Romania, Moldova, or Hungary.
He and other colleagues and ambassadors, he added, had been working hard to ensure the exit of South Africans and other foreigners from Ukraine, some of whom had suffered racism as they attempted to flee.
“We’ve heard all of these accusations, we’ve seen the videos and we are concerned… We’ve protested too, on [an] official level to the government and asked them to please help the students that are still coming through,” he said.
He also mentioned that South Africa‘s ambassadors in Poland and Hungary have been to the border to assist individuals.
“Part of the problem was that at first, only Ukrainian women and children were allowed in, and because Ukrainian officials followed these instructions to the letter, this had an impact on all foreigners. It’s just been a very terrible situation,” he added.