Until the Russian invasion in 2022, Ukraine hadn’t prioritized relations with Africa.
“Then the full-scale invasion happened, and all of a sudden everyone realized that this huge, future-oriented continent largely didn’t understand Ukraine’s story because it did not hear it,” Scherba said. “And that it was, in many cases, a sandbox for Russian propaganda.”
So far it’s a battle in which Ukraine has been losing ground. In 2022, the only African country to vote against a U.N. resolution condemning Russia’s invasion was Eritrea. This year, six African countries opposed a Ukraine-backed measure condemning Russia’s invasion.
“Russia has been forming Ukraine’s image as a neo-Nazi state ruled by racists and supporters of apartheid,” a Ukrainian foreign intelligence service official said. “Moscow spreads these messages through their propaganda outlets, in universities, and through loyalist associations.”
A 55-year-old Ghanaian citizen, who asked to be identified only by his call sign Future, hopes that Russia and Ukraine will eventually exchange the international prisoners fighting on both sides of the conflict.
“If Ukraine really wants to be friends with Africa, it should let us go, in exchange for other internationals fighting for Kyiv,” Future said as prisoners took a cigarette break after lunch.