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By HERB BOYD

Special to the AmNews

A resolute call for help emanated from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy’s virtual speech Wednesday morning before a body of lawmakers, and he invoked a number of historical moments when the U.S. was attacked and forcefully responded.

“Americans,” he said, attired in a t-shirt, “in your great history you would understand Ukrainians. Understand us now. We need you right now. Remember Pearl Harbor…Remember September 11, a terrible day in 2001 when people tried to turn your cities into battlefields…Our country experiences the same every day. Right now, this moment every night for three weeks…Russia has turned [the] Ukrainian sky into a source of death for thousands of people.” He even invoked Dr. King when he said, “I have a dream. I have a need. I need to protect our skies. I need your help, which means the same you feel when you hear the words I have a dream. Ladies and gentlemen, friends, Ukraine is grateful to the United States for its overwhelming support. Everything your government and your people have done for us, for weapons and training, for leadership to pressure the aggressor economically.”

His plea for assistance cited Mount Rushmore, which he had visited, and World War II, comparing what is happening in his country to the worst devastation since that destructive war. “You know what kind of defense systems we need. You know how much depends on the ability to use aircraft to protect our people, our freedom…aircraft that can help Ukraine, help Europe. We know they exist and you have them. They are not in Ukrainian skies.”

The first several minutes of his speech was delivered via translation, and then interrupted by a video depicting a beautiful Ukraine and one being destroyed by bombardments. He concluded his address in English, poignant words meant especially for President Biden. “I am almost 45 years old,” he stated. “Today my age stopped when the hearts of more than 100 children stopped beating. I see no sense in life if it cannot stop the deaths. This is my mission as a leader of my people and as a leader of my nation. I’m addressing President Biden. You are the leader of the nation, of your great nation. I wish you to be the leader of the world.”

When he concluded there was a standing ovation from the audience. Even so, there was no immediate response from President Biden, but he is expected to announce more than $1 billion in new military aid to Ukraine.

month, Sudanese General Mohamed Hamdan Dagolo met with Kremlin officials in Moscow on the eve of Russia’s invasion into Ukraine to discuss a new economic-focused alliance.

Upon returning home, Gen. Dagolo announced that Sudan would be open to allowing Russia to build its long hoped-for naval base at Port Sudan on the Red Sea. In December, the U.S. and

Europe expressed alarm at reports that the Wagner Group had signed a $10 million-amonth security contract with the Malian government. Observers say Wagner exploited local unhappiness over a disappointing yearslong French-led deployment in the sub-Saharan targeting extremist factions. They hope for better results from the Russian fighters.

“Long live Russia!” one man in a crowd was heard to cry, cheering the sight of a Russian delegation in Bamako in January. “Long live the people of Mali!”

The Wagner group is also helping to support President Faustin-Archange Touadéra of the Central African Republic (CAR) in the fight against rebels who still control many parts of the country despite recent government advances. Touadéra, in power since 2016, had struggled to defeat rebel forces despite the presence of French troops and a U.N. force. He believes the Russian mercenaries have had more success.

U.N. experts believe there could be more than 2,000 instructors deployed by Russia to the CAR, including recruits from Syria and Libya, where Wagner has been active.

In South Africa, President Cyril Ramaphosa says he has been asked to help mediate peace between Russia and Ukraine, after having spoken to his counterpart Vladimir Putin. But some analysts are questioning whether South Africa’s ties to Russia could impact its neutrality. At a recent U.N. vote to reprimand Russia over the invasion of neighboring

International Ukraine, South Africa abstained from the vote. According to Ramaphosa, the Continued from page 2 U.N. resolution did not promise meaningful engagement. “The call for peaceful resolution through political dialogue is relegated to a single sentence close to the conclusion of the final text,” he said. But according to the official opposition, the DemocraticAlliance, Ramaphosa may have been influenced by Russian oligarch, Victor Vekselberg, who has donated R7,5 million to the ANC.

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