Ukraine

Since the start of Russia’s war against Ukraine in February 2022, the OSCE has been virtually blocked on all fronts. … In an attempt to overcome this paralysis, OSCE participating states have made increasing use of an instrument that does not require consensus: the so-called OSCE Moscow Mechanism, which has been invoked a record five times in the 16 months since the start of the war.

President Cyril Ramaphosa (of South Africa) along with six African Heads of State will in the coming weeks travel to Ukraine and Russia on an African Peace Initiative concerning the war in Ukraine. … The Presidents involved in the African Peace Initiative include the President of the Comoros Islands and current President of the African Union Othman Ghazali, President of Egypt Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, President of Senegal Macky Sall, President of Uganda HE Yoweri Museveni, and President of Zambia Hakainde Hichilema.

The catastrophe happened early Tuesday when explosions tore through the colossal Nova Kakhovka hydroelectric dam in southern Ukraine — draining one of the Continent's largest artificial reservoirs. It forced the evacuation of thousands of people downstream, polluted land, destroyed a large electricity generator and will cause future problems with water supplies.

The EU agriculture commissioner says it is necessary to extend Ukraine grain-import restrictions until at least the end of October, despite fierce opposition from Kyiv. The restrictions followed complaints from EU countries that surplus Ukrainian grain was driving down local prices and impacting local farmers.

Humanitarians reached 5.4 million people in Ukraine with desperately needed aid by April this year, including cash assistance, food, health services, and medicines, the UN said on Friday.

Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba is urging African countries to abandon their stances of neutrality towards his country's war with Russia.

South Africa’s president, Cyril Ramaphosa, says a delegation of African leaders will soon travel to Russia and Ukraine to present a peace plan.

A year after kicking Russia out of the Council of Europe (CoE), the leaders of the 46-nation pan-continental rights body gather Tuesday in Iceland to show a united face against Moscow. … It is only the fourth such meeting to be held in the CoE's seven-decade history.

[…] As regards EUAM Ukraine, the Council appointed Rolf M. Hay Pereira Holmboe as Head of Mission from 1 June 2023 to 31 May 2024. Rolf Holmboe currently serves as Denmark’s ambassador to Mali, after being posted in Pakistan, Lebanon and Syria.

Russia’s forced transfer of Ukrainian children amounts to genocide, the Council of Europe said Thursday (27 April) in a resolution adopted by its parliamentary assembly. Calling for the safe return of the children to Ukraine, the parliament said “the documented evidence of this practice matches with the international definition of genocide”.