The Road To Peace: From Kyiv To Vilakazi Street

On a bright summer day in March in South Africa, Oleksandra Romantsova is at Vilakazi Street in Johannesburg’s sprawling Soweto township.

- Chanel Retief

She now has a connection with this historic street that has produced two Nobel Peace Prize laureates – Nelson Mandela and Archbishop Desmond Tutu.

In 2022, the Center for Civil Liberties, where she is Executive Director in Ukraine, also won the Nobel Peace Prize for its advocacy and work documenting war crimes as a result of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

Romantsova is wearing blue nail polish and a big smile, as she speaks about education, children, women and peace. The Sakhumzi restaurant where we are is vibrant with chatter, color, and South African culinary specialties, and Romantsova has a full view of the street, from one end to another, marveling at the houses where Tutu and Mandela lived.

She harks back to that emotional moment when she received news, on the phone, of the Nobel Peace Prize win in 2022.

“[When] they called, I was startled. After they told me, all my English left my head,” Romantsova laughs. “I think in the end, I cried.”