“Distress call” from South African mercenaries in Ukraine

TT

Updated 11.00 | Published 09.20

 

Russian soldiers outside Vuhledar in Russian-occupied Donetsk. Image published by the Defense Ministry in Moscow in December 2024. Photo: Russian Defense Ministry Via AP/TT

17 South African mercenaries have sent a distress call from Ukrainian Donbass. The men were lured to the front, according to the government in Pretoria, which is now trying to get them back.

The South African mercenaries are said to be trapped in Donbass in eastern Ukraine, where fierce fighting is raging between Ukraine and the Russian invasion forces, who control large parts of the area. It is not clear on which side of the conflict the South Africans are fighting.

The men were lured into the war with false, lucrative job offers, President Cyril Ramaphosa’s office said in a statement. Most of them are said to be from KwaZulu-Natal in eastern South Africa.

The government in Pretoria says it is working to bring the men, who are aged between 20 and 39, home after they sent a distress call.

“President Cyril Ramaphosa has ordered an investigation into the circumstances that led to the recruitment of these young men for apparent mercenary activities,” the statement said. 

Militia says yes to humanitarian ceasefire in Sudan 

TT

Updated 15.56 | Published 15.31

 

Sudanese RSF soldiers. Archive photo. Photo: Hussein Malla/AP/TT

The RSF militia in Sudan has said yes to a ceasefire proposal developed by a US-led mediation group, reports AP.

The Sudanese army has previously said no to ceasefire proposals. This means that only one party has currently agreed to the mediators' proposal.

The war in Sudan between the army and the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) militia, which broke out in April 2023, has led to one of the world's worst humanitarian crises, with millions of people displaced from their homes and tens of thousands killed.

Both sides are accused of serious abuses and war crimes, but most observers point to the RSF's warfare as particularly brutal and ruthless. Since the militia took the town of al-Fashir in the Darfur region of western Sudan, the spotlight has increasingly been focused on it. Satellite images that American researchers have taken a closer look at indicate pure massacres, which is supported by testimonies from fleeing people.

Forces loyal to the Sudanese army speak of thousands of civilian deaths.