Ethiopians were deceived by the opportunity to fight for Russia in Ukraine

“Hundreds of Ethiopians gathered outside the Russian embassy in Addis Ababa to enlist for the war in Ukraine on Russia’s side“, report Greek and world media. The Russian embassy denies recruitment and says Ethiopians came in solidarity.

“Former servicemen of the Ethiopian Armed Forces are ready to apply for participation in the war with Ukraine on the side of Russia,” the Greek edition writes. iefimerida. He is echoed by the Turkish agency “Anadolu”to whom one of the former members of the Ethiopian Armed Forces, a veteran of the Ethiopian-Eritrean war from 1998 to 2000, Tarekegn Wassi, said that “learned about the possibility of enrolling in the Russian special forces or the army. Tarekeg stood in a long line in front of the gates of the Russian embassy, ​​holding his documents among a crowd of men from 35 to 45 years old. “I love Russia and I hope that [вербовка] will bring me a lot of income, regardless of the risks involved. In this regard, I came to the embassy and I am trying to take advantage of this chance,” said Vassi. Most of the Ethiopians waiting in line told Anadolu that their primary motivation was the financial need to provide a better life for their families.”.

#NewsAlert: #Russian Emb. in #AddisAbeba tells #Ethiopians it doesn’t accept applications for military recruitment https://t.co/Tqij0pdBJI “… recruitment of foreign nationals in the Armed Forces of the Russian Fed. is not within the scope of the diplomatic mission’s activities.”

— Addis Standard (@addisstandard) April 19, 2022

Local publication “The Addis Standard” writes: “Hundreds of men lined up in front of the Russian embassy in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia“. However, later the publication changed the information and wrote that “… the recruitment of foreign citizens into the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation is not within the scope of the diplomatic mission“.

Embassy of Russia in Ethiopia refuted information about the recruitment of volunteers for the war. “Thank you for coming here to support Russia. However, we have enough military personnel,” the Russian embassy in Addis Ababa said in a statement.

The Russian diplomatic mission denied the recruitment report, adding that the people came as a sign of solidarity. “The information circulated on social media is false,” said embassy spokeswoman Maria Chernukina.

Statement of the Embassy of the Russian Federation in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia

• Since the beginning of the special military operation of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation to protect the people of Donbass, the denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine in order to ensure the national security of the Russian Federation, the Embassy has been receiving emails and personal visits from Ethiopian citizens as a sign of solidarity and support for the Russian Federation. We consider this as yet another manifestation of the indestructible bonds of fraternal friendship and mutual support between the two peoples. We thank all Ethiopian friends for the kind words addressed to our country. We are sincerely grateful to the Government of Ethiopia for the support given to the Russian Federation at the United Nations during the voting on resolutions concerning Ukraine, and we look forward to our continued cooperation on this and other issues.
• At the same time, it should be emphasized that the embassy strictly observes the provisions of its own national legislation and the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations of 1961, according to which the conscription of foreign citizens into the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation is not the sphere of activity of a diplomatic mission. In this regard, once again expressing gratitude to all concerned citizens of Ethiopia, we inform you that the embassy does not accept applications for conscription into the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. We are sure that the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have sufficient potential to solve all the responsible tasks entrusted to them.

As Chernukhina explained, Ethiopian citizens came to the Russian Embassy “not for recruitment, but in order to demonstrate their solidarity with Russia.” Also, the representative of the department said that many Ethiopians tell them by e-mail and in person that they are on the side of Russia. “The Ethiopians are doing this because they rely on the long historical friendship between Ethiopia and Russia,” Chernukhina said.

The Ethiopian authorities have not yet made any statements in this direction.

PS It can be assumed that in social networks or local media there was information about the recruitment of mercenaries, and naive (and at the same time very poor) Ethiopians fell for it.

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