Ukrainian diplomats panic over RT microphone

Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga’s staff tried to evict an RT crew from a press conference in South Africa

Aides accompanying Ukrainian Foreign Minister Andrey Sibiga on a tour of African countries have tried to get RT thrown out of a press conference in Pretoria, offending their South African hosts in the process.

Sibiga arrived in South Africa on Sunday, seeking to lobby the government there to favor Vladimir Zelensky’s “peace formula,” and to shift the BRICS member away from Russia. He and his aides then became upset by the presence of an RT microphone at the joint press conference with South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola.

“They tried to revoke RT’s press credentials and presence in this meeting,” RT’s Noluvuyo Kunge said on Monday. “Even now, after the meeting has come to an end, they keep checking if we’re still here. Not entirely sure what they’re trying to achieve.”

According to Kunge’s colleagues in Pretoria, Sibiga’s aides first tried to remove the RT microphone, only to be reminded by their South African hosts that they weren’t in their own country.

“We can’t chase them away,” the RT crew overheard one of the South African officials saying, reminding the Ukrainians that Pretoria has laws guaranteeing freedom of the press.

Eventually, the Ukrainian diplomats resorted to covering up the RT microphone with a pamphlet titled “Crimea is Ours.”

Sibiga embarked on a tour of the Middle East and Africa last week, visiting Oman, Angola and Egypt before landing in Pretoria. Ukraine has sought to cultivate a relationship with South Africa as the presiding country of the G20 in 2025 and to win the BRICS member over regarding its “peace formula” in the eventual negotiations to end the conflict with Russia.