17 African countries abstain from UN vote to condemn Russia invasion

Ukraine.

Ukrainian servicemen get ready to repel an attack in Ukraine's Lugansk region on February 24, 2022. PHOTO | ANATOLII STEPANOV | AFP

Seventeen African countries on Wednesday abstained from voting as the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly voted to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, signalling further international pressure on Moscow.

The UN General Assembly, which was this week sitting under an emergency session, a rare sitting occasioned only by a serious threat to international security, voted to condemn what a motion said was “aggression against Ukraine” following Russia’s February 24 invasion of its neighbour.