More than 30,000 Africans resident in Ukraine are in peril following Russian President Vladimir Putin’s warning to take ‘military measures’ in response to ‘unfriendly’ Western action in the country.
A survey into Ministry of Education, Ukraine by Straightnews shows that the country boasts of 76,548 international students from 10 top countries in the world.
From African countries, Morocco has 8,832, Nigeria has 4,227 while Egypt get 3,048 topping the list with their students doing various courses of academic programmes from 10 popular universities in Ukraine.
The African Council in Ukraine, and NGO which promotes African culture, claims that about 30 thousand Africans live in Ukraine, the majority of whom are students coming from Morocco, Nigeria, and Egypt.
”During the first years of its independence, Ukraine has renewed diplomatic relations with African countries. The flow of African migrants has increased significantly, but they were not enlisted in the 2001 census.
”Young Africans come to Ukraine to pursue higher education. Ukrainian universities have gained high popularity in Africa through special agencies that advertise affordable education abroad. They prepare all the necessary documents, secure visas for future students, and bring them to Ukraine in groups,” the NGO stated.
Putin’s war threat
Giving the warning during a meeting at the defence ministry on Tuesday, December 20, Putin said Russia will ”react toughly to unfriendly steps’ and stressed ‘that we have every right to do so.”
Referring to a Western bid to bolster Ukraine with weapons and military training, the Russian leader said, “In the event that the clearly aggressive line of our Western colleagues continues, we will take adequate retaliatory military-technical measures, and react toughly to unfriendly steps.
“And, I want to emphasise, we have every right to do so, we have every right to take actions designed to ensure the security and sovereignty of Russia.”
Around 175,000 Russian combat forces are expected to be near Ukraine’s borders by January and pro-Russian separatists are attacking Ukraine troops daily. On the frontline in Donbas, Ukraine, Russian troops have been building up in support of pro-Russian separatists in the Donetsk and Luhansk region.
Putin denies any Russian involvement in the region but it is feared he will use the conflict to justify an incursion deeper into Ukraine, threatening to bring war to Europe’s borders.
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On Monday, Dmitry Kiselyov, a Russian media mogul, threatened to “put a gun to America’s head” if NATO forces are stationed in Ukraine and warned the alliance to back off “otherwise, everyone will be turned into radioactive ash.”
America has been warning for weeks that Mr Putin appears to be readying tens of thousands of troops, tanks and artillery pieces to invade Ukraine, but Mr Putin has insisted it is merely a defence force – until now.
He spoke just days after Russia issued a list of demands to NATO, including that Ukraine never be allowed to join the alliance and that its forces be withdrawn from former Soviet states.
Continuing his fiery rhetoric, Mr Putin said “We need long-term legally binding guarantees” – even as he warned against taking America at its word.
He added: “The United States easily withdraws from all international treaties that for one reason or another become uninteresting to them.”
Stating Russia must act in kind, the President said: “What is going on, this tension that builds up in Europe, it is their fault, at each step Russia had to respond somehow.
“At each step, the situation got worse and worse, degraded and degraded. And today we are in the situation when we need to decide something.”
Russia “cannot allow” the West to put its weapons so close to Moscow, he added.
The President ended: “If this infrastructure moves, if the US and NATO missile systems appear in Ukraine, then their flight time to Moscow will be reduced to seven to 10 minutes, and with the deployment of hypersonic weapons – to five.”
The Kremlin had also said that high-level talks between the US and Russia are underway over the list of demands, but said no agreements have yet been reached.
The White House has said it will consult with NATO allies over the demands, but it was willing to make no promises.
Dmitry Kiselyov talks tough
Asked about those demands by the BBC on Monday December 20, Mr Kiselyov responded: ”If Ukraine ever joins NATO or if NATO develops military infrastructure there, we will hold a gun to America’s head. We have the military capability.”
Russia is ‘one hundred per cent’ willing to use force to defend its red lines, Mr Kiselyov added, saying that it is a ‘matter of life or death’ for his country.
He also warned of the risk of a repeat of the Cuban Missile Crisis if NATO deploys missiles in regions where they can quickly strike Moscow.
Kiselyov said, ”It would be good to harmonise our interests and not put Russia in a position where missiles could reach us in four minutes.
”Russia is ready to create a comparable, analogous threat, by deploying its weapons close to decision-making centres.”
