After fleeing Ukraine, South African students arrive home

By MOGOMOTSI MAGOME and SEBABATSO MOSAMO
Associated Press

JOHANNESBURG (AP) — Ten South African students who fled Ukraine after Russia’s invasion of that country have arrived home Thursday, with 25 more expected over the next few days. Welcomed by cheering family and friends at O.R Tambo International Airport, the students are among more than 80,000 foreign nationals that the International Organization for Migration says have left Ukraine since the Russian invasion. Returning student Butlhari Mtonga said she’s happy to be safely home but she’s still worried about those who remain in Ukraine. As relieved families welcomed the returning students, South Africa’s government said it deplores the violence in Ukraine, even though it abstained from voting on a U.N. General Assembly resolution condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.