Dozens of special forces were supposed to arrive in Kyiv with the president of the South African Republic for security and mass media, but this plane was forced to get stuck in Poland; the situation has already caused a scandal.
This became known from the media on board the plane, among others, Sowetanlive reports the story.
In addition to the delegation itself, Cyril Ramaphosa's own bodyguards with weapons and equipment were to arrive in Kyiv on a separate plane. Media representatives also flew with them to cover the visit. It was planned that they would take another plane from Warsaw to Rzeszów and only then meet the president.
Problems arose on the way to Europe - the plane had to make six circles over the Mediterranean Sea before the Italian controllers allowed it to continue to Warsaw.
At the Warsaw airport, it became clear that the Polish side demands to provide certain permits for 12 containers of weapons and equipment and to show their originals, which were not taken on board. Then there was confusion about which plane was supposed to take everyone to Rzeszów.
Security and journalists were forced to remain in Warsaw, and the flight crew finally announced that the rules required pilots to be released after a long flight for a minimum rest of 10 hours.
Meanwhile, Ramaphosa, after short meetings in Poland with several members of the delegation, went to Rzeszów and boarded a train to Kyiv, the bodyguard eventually remained in Poland.
The head of Ramaphosa's security service has already stated that due to all these misunderstandings, the head of state's life was "put in danger", and accused Poland of allegedly intentionally disrupting the South African president's peace initiative and of racist discrimination.
According to him, the African side has received all the necessary permits and they have been in contact with Poland on this issue for two weeks.
As you know, the presidents of South Africa, Zambia, Senegal, the Comoros Islands, the Prime Minister of Egypt, and the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Uganda visited Kyiv on June 16. The delegation also visited Bucha.
