By John Ikani
The Ukraine Embassy in Kenya is now calling for financial support from Kenyans and other well wishers as the conflict with Russia continues.
It has opened two fundraising bank accounts and an account on M-Pesa, the mobile money transfer system.
The embassy in a statement on Twitter said the initiative followed “many requests” it had received from Kenyans keen on donating to the cause.
Dear friends,
Following the many requests that we've received, the Embassy of Ukraine in Kenya has additionally opened an M-PESA account for charitable donations in support of Ukraine.We very much appreciate your solidarity with 🇺🇦people in our fight against Russia’s invasion. pic.twitter.com/bErQD43lQV
— Ukraine in Kenya 🇺🇦 (@UKRinKEN) March 31, 2022
Kenya was among 141 countries that voted in favour of a UN resolution that condemned Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and called for the immediate withdrawal of its forces.
The war led by Russia’s President Vladimir Putin on Ukraine is now entering its fourth week. Efforts to end the war are still underway with US and Europe mounting pressure on Moscow to retreat.
Reports indicate that dozens of Ukrainians have been killed in the ongoing fighting with millions having fled the country.
According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees more than 3.9 million people have fled Ukraine since Russian’s invasion on February 24.
Ukrainian Ambassador to Kenya Andrii Pravednyk has blamed Russia for the increased food prices in the country, saying the conflict has negatively affected crop production.
The Russian Ambassador to Kenya, Dmitry Maksimychev, has however, since denied reports that Ruassia’s invasion of Ukraine is to blame for rising food prices in Africa blaming sanction imposed by western nations for the rise in commodity prices.
Amb. Maksimychev pointed out that the sanctions are preventing Russia from selling food products to African countries including Kenya.
“There is a new tune in the information bubble that is being played that because of Russia, Africa will starve. I frankly cannot understand the logic because yes, we are a very big producer of food, grain, oil, vegetable oil, sunflower oil, all types of grain, meat, and poultry and so on. We are willing to sell this produce because we are big exporters,” Maksimychev said when he spoke to Kenya’s Capital FM Morning show on Thursday.
