Ukraine hoping SA will announce progress on returning abducted children - Daily Maverick

President Cyril Ramaphosa has apparently spoken to Vladimir Putin about returning Ukrainian children taken to Russia.

South Africa has made probably its strongest statement against Russia’s war on Ukraine yet, calling for an immediate ceasefire and demanding that Russia safely return all civilians and especially children, which it has abducted, deported or imprisoned, to their families in Ukraine.

Zane Dangor, Director-General of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco), made the statement on Monday, 28 September, at the Pathways to Peace: Second International Conference on Returning Ukrainian Children, Detained Civilians, and Prisoners of War in Toronto, Canada.

The conference was organised by Canada, Ukraine and Norway “to strengthen international support for efforts to bring people home, protect those who remain under Russian control and ensure that those who return can access rehabilitation and reintegration services”, the Canadian government said.

Ukraine says Russia has unlawfully deported at least 20,651 Ukrainian children to Russia since the war began in 2024, of whom only 2,573 children have been returned.

Ukraine had hoped that South Africa would announce at the conference, which ended on Tuesday, that it had made progress in securing the release of some of the 400 Ukrainian children, which Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky had in April 2025 asked President Cyril Ramaphosa to try to get home.

But Dangor told the conference: “Many countries, including South Africa, have been engaging with the Russians to return Ukrainian children to Ukraine to their families and caregivers.

“This process has not been easy and perhaps we need to strengthen our partnerships with recognised UN humanitarian agencies to assist partners in this process. Information on the location and identity of affected persons and their families must be sought and shared.”

Dangor added that the statement made by Qatar at the conference about its success in securing the return of some Ukrainian children was “encouraging and indicates why joined-up efforts are important”.

But even if Dangor could not announce any success in SA’s efforts to release the children, his more general statement about the war pleased Ukraine.

“I’m overwhelmed and grateful,” said Ukraine’s ambassador to SA, Olexander Scherba. “This is the clearest language South Africa has used in years.”

“We reiterate the need for urgent action to end the war in Ukraine, for an immediate ceasefire and for negotiations to a just and lasting peace,” Dangor continued.

“We express concern about the escalation of the conflict and attacks on civilians and civilian infrastructure and its negative regional and international socioeconomic implications.

“This is a war whose impact is felt in all countries, all over the world, as it contributes to the debilitating global food, fuel and financial crises.

“We will continue to work with others towards an inclusive political process that leads to a just and lasting peace in Ukraine, and we will continue to work with others for the safe return of Ukrainian children.

“In line with international humanitarian law, all civilians and especially children who have been abducted, deported, captured or imprisoned must be returned safely to their families in Ukraine. Civilians are never legitimate targets. This includes children and all non-combatants.

“As we agreed in Copenhagen, Jeddah, Doha, Kyiv, Burgenstock and Montreal, a just peace can only be achieved within the framework of international law and the UN Charter,” Dangor said, referring to the meetings of Ukraine’s peace process in various countries over the past few years.

“This includes the prohibition of threat or use of force, respect for territorial integrity and sovereignty, the prohibition on the annexation of land through the use of force and, of course, the settling of disputes through peaceful means.

“South Africa has advocated for the uniform application of these principles of international law, including upholding the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Ukraine.

“The failure to uniformly and fairly implement international law in this case and in all other conflict situations globally weakens the normative framework of international accountability and makes the world less safe for all.”

Dangor added: “We hope that there will now be greater commitment to ensure that all countries are held accountable for not abiding by international laws and the norms of the UN Charter, and that all those who breach international law and commit international crimes are held accountable.

“Those of us who are state parties to the Rome Statute must meet our obligations to cooperate with the International Criminal Court (ICC) irrespective of who is under indictment,” Dangor said.

This was an apparent reference to the fact that Russian President Vladimir Putin has been indicted by the ICC precisely for abducting children from Ukraine – but also probably referring to others wanted by the ICC, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, indicted with former defence minister Yoav Gallant in 2024 for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Ukraine and others had been encouraged to hope that Pretoria might announce the securing of the release of children by SA’s participation in the Toronto conference and the fact that  Ramaphosa apparently discussed the conference with Putin when they met in New Delhi on 11 September on the sidelines of the Brics summit.

“We are also grateful that we’ve been invited to participate in the Pathways to Peace International Conference that will be taking place in Canada. So we want to hear your views on that as well, because we would like to attend, to see how best we can continue advancing our relations,” Ramaphosa told Putin.

SA officials would not say how Putin responded.

Ramaphosa has made the return of the Ukrainian children an issue for more than three years. He raised it directly with Putin on 17 June 2023 in St Petersburg when he met him on an African peace mission with other African leaders. Putin seemed to fob him off.

South Africa had abstained from all UN General Assembly resolutions criticising Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine, until on 3 December 2025 it supported a resolution demanding that Russia immediately release the Ukrainian children.

Scherba had told Daily Maverick before Dangor’s statement that: “In light of Russia’s barbaric strikes on Ukrainian cities, any public condemnation [by South Africa, at the Toronto conference] of Russia’s imperial war and slaughter of civilians would mean a lot.

“And as to the return of Ukrainian children kidnapped from Ukraine, there has been an exchange of lists with children’s names between SA and Russia for quite a while. I do hope that at some point it brings results, and the children who have been stolen from their home country like pieces of furniture will come home, with South Africa’s help. South African participation in the Toronto summit might be an encouraging sign to that end.”

The Ukrainian Association of South Africa has said it was “pleased that the South African government will be attending the conference. As President Ramaphosa recently had a personal meeting with Vladimir Putin, who is subject to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant specifically in connection with the unlawful deportation and transfer of Ukrainian children, and whose military forces have committed more than 200,000 documented war crimes, we hope that the return of the 400 Ukrainian children whose names were handed over to President Ramaphosa was part of their discussion. [In New Delhi] we hope to see these children return to Ukraine and be reunited with their families and communities. DM