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CAPE TOWN, South Africa — The U. S. ambassador to South Africa accused the nation Thursday of offering weapons and ammunition to Russia for its battle in Ukraine by way of a cargo ship linked to a sanctioned firm that docked secretly at a naval base close to town of Cape City in December.
South African President Cyril Ramaphosa mentioned an investigation into the go to by a Russian vessel named Girl R to his nation’s primary naval base was already underway behind the scenes with the assistance of U.S. intelligence companies earlier than Ambassador Reuben Brigety went public at a information convention within the South African capital, Pretoria, that the cargo was weapons and ammunition.
Brigety mentioned the U.S. was sure that navy tools was loaded onto the Girl R on the Simon’s City naval base between Dec. 6 and Dec. 8 after which transported to Russia. He mentioned it introduced into query South Africa’s supposed impartial stance on the battle in Ukraine and its requires the battle to finish.
“The arming of the Russians is extraordinarily critical and we don’t think about this subject to be resolved,” Brigety mentioned in feedback reported by a number of South African information retailers.
If South Africa is discovered to be giving Russia navy help, it threatens to fracture the connection between the US and a key associate in Africa. Regardless of South Africa’s impartial stance on the battle in Ukraine, the Biden Administration hoped it might nonetheless be a key buffer towards rising Russian and Chinese language affect on the continent.
Whereas Ramaphosa’s workplace mentioned in an announcement later Thursday that there was presently “no proof” to help allegations that arms have been loaded onto the Girl R, The Related Press established that the vessel is tied to an organization that was sanctioned final yr by the U.S. for being concerned in transporting navy tools for the Russian authorities.
The information of Brigety’s feedback broke whereas Ramaphosa was in Cape City answering questions on different issues in Parliament. When the chief of the political opposition, John Steenhuisen, requested concerning the weapons and ammunition, the president replied that “the matter is being seemed into, and in time we can talk about it.”
Ramaphosa declined to remark additional, citing the necessity for the investigation to play out.
Steenhuisen requested the president if South Africa was “actively arming Russian troopers who’re murdering and maiming harmless folks?”
Ammunition provides have change into an issue for Russia within the battle. The chief of Russian navy firm Wagner complained final week about his mercenary troopers in Ukraine allegedly coping with dire shortages.
Ramaphosa’s workplace acknowledged in its assertion that the Girl R docked in South Africa, however didn’t say when, the place or for what cause. The assertion additionally criticized the American ambassador for going public.
Information data reviewed by The AP present the Girl R was bought by a Russian firm, Transmorflot LLC, in 2019. In Might 2022, the U.S. sanctioned Transmorflot and several other vessels it alleges are managed by the corporate, together with the Girl R, for aiding the Russian battle effort. The corporate then modified its title to MG-Flot LLC, which can also be listed as the present proprietor of the Girl R.
Final month, The Wall Avenue Journal reported that one other ship owned by MG-Flot, the Rasul Gamzatov, transported artillery shells from Iran to Russia, citing Center Japanese officers.
The AP has additionally independently confirmed that the Girl R docked on the Simon’s City naval base throughout the time-frame Brigety cited.
MarineTraffic, a service that collects radio and satellite tv for pc transponder information from ships, tracked the Girl R off the South African coast in early December, however the sign was misplaced on Dec. 5. Ships are required by worldwide regulation to maintain their transponders on whereas at sea. Smugglers usually flip them off to cover their actions.
Satellite tv for pc imagery obtained by the AP exhibits a ship the identical size, coloration and format because the Girl R docked on the naval base the next day and remained there by Dec. 8. The AP additionally obtained photographs of the ship on the naval base, the title Girl R clearly seen on its stern in each English and Russian. The ship set sail Dec. 9 and its transponder sign popped again up on Dec. 10. It returned to the Russian port of Novorossiysk on the Black Sea on Feb. 22.
Steenhuisen’s opposition occasion had beforehand raised questions over the looks of a “thriller” Russian vessel in Simon’s City. In late December, South African Protection Minister Thandi Modise mentioned the ship was dealing with an “previous order” for ammunition, and arms have been offloaded, not loaded onto the ship.
The South African authorities has acknowledged quite a few instances it’s impartial on the battle in Ukraine and desires the battle resolved peacefully by diplomacy however current shows of its closeness to Russia opened Africa’s most developed nation to accusations that it has successfully taken Russia’s aspect.
South Africa hosted Russian International Minister Sergei Lavrov for talks in January, giving him a platform accountable the West for the battle in Ukraine.
Weeks later, South Africa allowed warships from the Russian and Chinese language navies to carry out drills off its east coast. The Russian navy introduced its Admiral Gorshkov frigate, considered one of its navy’s flagship vessels. The South African navy took half within the drills and mentioned they’d “strengthen the already flourishing relations between South Africa, Russia and China.”
South Africa additionally faces a diplomatic dilemma over a attainable go to this yr by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who’s the topic of an Worldwide Prison Court docket arrest warrant for alleged battle crimes involving the abductions of kids from Ukraine. Putin is because of go to South Africa in August for a gathering of leaders of the BRICS financial bloc, made up of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa.
South Africa is a signatory to the worldwide courtroom primarily based in The Hague, Netherlands, and obliged to arrest Putin. The federal government indicated it could not detain the Russian chief and threatened to go away the ICC as an alternative. Ramaphosa’s workplace launched an announcement final month backtracking on the risk.
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AP Author Mogomotsi Magome in Johannesburg and AP World Investigative Reporter Michael Biesecker in Washington contributed to this report.
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Comply with AP’s protection of the battle in Ukraine: https://apnews.com/hub/russia-ukraine
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