On Monday, October 28, during his visit to the Republic of South Africa, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine Andrii Sybiha visited the national memorial Freedom Park in Pretoria, dedicated to the memory of victims of wars and the apartheid era.

The Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs took part in the opening ceremony of the Ukraine’ section on the wall of memory and unveiled its first memorial plaque, dedicated to the outstanding Ukrainian diplomat Hennadii Udovenko.

During the soviet era, Ukrainian diplomats at the UN were at the forefront of the struggle against apartheid. Hennadii Udovenko was the Permanent Representative of the Ukrainian SSR at the UN, the President of the 52nd session of the General Assembly and the Vice-chairman of the UN Special Committee against Apartheid.

“Today’s event is about restoring justice. We honor the great Ukrainian, one of the founding fathers of the Ukrainian diplomacy Hennadii Udovenko and highlight the Ukrainian contribution to South Africa’s struggle for freedom and overcoming apartheid. It is my especial pleasure to hear the national anthem of Ukraine here, in the Freedom Park memorial. Today, this anthem is one of the global symbols of freedom,” the Minister said in a speech at the opening ceremony.

Andrii Sybiha stressed that associating exclusively russia with soviet aid to the peoples of Africa in their struggle against colonialism is unfair. He reminded that the aid of the USSR was a collective effort, which included, in particular, the contribution of Ukrainians.

“russia has no right to monopolize the memory of support for African liberation movements in soviet times. After all, a significant part of the support of the USSR was provided by Ukrainians. Ukrainian diplomats fought against apartheid at the UN. Ukrainian engineers built infrastructure in African countries. African independence fighters trained on Ukrainian soil, in particular near Odesa and Simferopol. Today’s event is a step on the way to restoring a fair attitude towards the Ukrainian contribution,” he said.

Ambassador of Ukraine to South Africa Liubov Abravitova in her speech noted the importance of the event and expressed her gratitude to the management of the Freedom Park national memorial for helping to unveil the memorial plaque in honor of Hennadii Udovenko. The ceremony was also attended by representatives of the diplomatic corps in Pretoria, ambassadors of foreign countries in South Africa.