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Tsitsi Tasaranarwo Herald Correspondent

Zimbabwe joins the rest of the world in celebrating Russian Language Day which is celebrated every June 6 to mark the birthday of Alexander Pushkin who is considered to be the greatest Russian poet.

The day was initiated by the United Nations (UN) to support and promote multilingualism and cultural diversity.

The day is also used to uphold the equality of the six official languages of the UN which are Arabic, Chinese, English, French, Russian and Spanish.

This year, the day will lead to Second Russia-Africa Summit and Economic and Humanitarian Forum, which will be held from 26 to 29 July in St Petersburg whose main theme will be around Cultural exchange and humanitarian cooperation between Russia and Africa.

The development comes as the cultural interaction between Russia and Africa has become stronger and deeper over the years.

The Russian diaspora in African countries is one of the most representative with two to fifteen thousand Russian speakers living in each state.

Educational opportunities for African students have been expanding for many years aligned with the Russian language earning more recognition.

Russia is ranked 6th in the number of foreign students, with 35,000 of them coming from African countries.

Moscow is home to the Institute of Africa of the Russian Academy of Sciences and the Peoples’ Friendship University of Russia, which recently reclaimed the name of the great fighter for the independence of Africa Patrice Lumumba.

This year the Ministry of Education and Science of Russia announced a doubling of the number of budget places in Russian universities for students from African countries as part of expanding humanitarian cooperation.