Young Ethiopian men have been gathering at the Russian embassy in the African nation’s capital of Addis Ababa with the hopes of enlisting to fight in the ongoing war in Ukraine. This comes after rumors of recruitment of soldiers to fight in the war were circulated, BBC reported.
But a spokeswoman for the embassy, Maria Chernukhina, denied a recruitment drive of such nature was being done in Ethiopia. She claimed the crowd was gathering at the embassy to show support for Russia.
“We have a lot of visitors to the embassy in order to express support for Russia,” Chernukhina said. “Some of them are telling us they are willing to help in any way they can. But we are not a recruitment agency.”
However, a large number of the Ethiopians who gathered at the entrance of the embassy were seen holding their personal documents. One of the young men also said he wanted to be either enlisted in the army or be given an alternative job.
“I also like Russia,” he added.
Others also said they heard there’re high-paying jobs in Russia.
In March, the UN General Assembly overwhelmingly voted to pass a resolution to condemn Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Face2Face Africa reported. And while Ethiopia missed that session, seventeen other African countries abstained from voting. Eritrea was the only African country to vote against the resolution.
