Ethiopians Who Want to be Enlisted to Fight for Russia

April 19, 2022

Embassy of Russia in Ethiopia says the number of Ethiopians coming to the embassy to express support has been increasing this past week 

Ethiopians lining up outside of the Russian Embassy in Ethiopia. (Photo: DW Amharic service)

Borkena 

Hundreds of Ethiopians who reportedly expressed interest in fighting on the side of Russia in the war in Ukraine have been registered at the Russian Embassy in Addis Ababa. 

According to a report by DW Amharic, on Tuesday a long line of people who said they are enlisting to fight on the side of Russia have been seen outside of the Russian Embassy. 

A volunteer who declined to disclose his identity, as reported by DW Amharic, said he was at the embassy on Monday but was not registered due to an incomplete required document that demonstrates his experience in the army. 

The source cited officials from the Russian Embassy as saying that they are not recruiting an army from Ethiopia to fight for Russia, but they have been giving visa services as usual. 

The embassy’s press attache, Maria Chernukhina, was asked to remark on claims from some Ethiopians who said they are registered after fulfilling the required document. 

“We have been receiving encouraging messages from Ethiopians since the operation in Ukraine was launched.  Since last month, and especially since over one week ago, many have been coming to the embassy to show support. However, the story that they are being registered for the military campaign is tittle-tattle.  Our embassy is not a recruiting agency. That is not our embassy’s mission,” she said. 

The Embassy has issued a statement on Tuesday, which it shared on its social media page, saying that the Embassy adheres to the Geneva Convention regarding activities of Diplomatic missions, and that it is not in line with a diplomatic mission to recruit foreign nationals into the armed forces of the Russian Federation. 

The statement reads as follows: 

“Statement by 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 on protection of the people of Donbass, denazification and demilitarization of Ukraine with the aim to ensure national security of the Russian Federation, the Embassy has been receiving by emails and in-person visits from citizens of Ethiopia expressions of their solidarity and support for the Russian Federation. We regard it as another manifestation of the unbreakable bonds of brotherly friendship and mutual support between the two peoples. We thank all Ethiopian friends for the kind words they addressed to our country. We are sincerely grateful to the Government of Ethiopia for the support extended to the Russian Federation at the United Nations during voting on Ukraine-related resolutions and look forward to continuing our cooperation with regard to this and other issues.

At the same time, it should be emphasized that the Embassy strictly complies with the provisions of its own national legislation and the 1961 Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, according to which recruitment of foreign nationals in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation is not within the scope of the diplomatic mission’s activities. In this regard, while reiterating our gratitude to all concerned citizens of Ethiopia, we would like to inform that the Embassy does not accept any applications for recruitment in the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation. We are confident that the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation have sufficient capacity to accomplish all the responsible tasks assigned to them.” 

Russia launched a military operation in Ukraine last month with a claim to “denazify” and “demilitarise”  Ukraine.  

This week, Foreign Minister Lavrov said that the war has entered a near phase with the aim to liberate the republics (Donetsk and Luhansk ) which Russia recognized as independent states just weeks before the war. Ukraine has been waging war in these two Russian speaking areas since 2014 with a move to reverse self-determination.