Hundreds of Ethiopian men queue to join Russia’s fight in Ukraine

A nation friendly to Russia has moved to silence claims that hundreds of men have been lining up to pledge their service to Vladimir Putin in Ukraine.

Russian President Vladimir Putin. Picture: Kay Nietfeld/dpa via Getty Images

Hundreds of Ethiopians have been seen queuing outside their local Russian embassy in Ethiopia with the hope of escaping the famished nation to provide support for the invading force in Ukraine.

Reuters reported rumours of a $US2000 payment for those who join up, as well as the possibility of work in Russia after the war.

While none were seen entering the embassy, dozens of men were spotted providing details to security personnel.

Millions across Ethiopia are currently battling civil conflict, as annual inflation sits at around 30 per cent.

The situation in the poverty-stricken African nation has bred desperation among the poorest of the 114 million-strong population, with reports of food shortages at hospitals filtering through regularly.

While Ethiopia maintains a strong relationship with Vladimir Putin’s superpower, its government has remained neutral on the conflict in Ukraine and has moved to refute claims citizens were being recruited for service.

Ethiopian Prime Minister Aboy Ahmed cautioned against the “escalating rhetoric” over his nation’s involvement in the conflict.

“We express our concern at the escalating rhetoric that risks further intensifying the issue and call upon all concerned to explore multiple pathways to reach an understanding,” he said, after the Foreign Ministry slammed the “unfounded reports of recruitment for the Russian Armed Forces”.

Hundreds of Ethiopian men reportedly sought to volunteer to fight for Russia in Ukraine.

The Russian embassy later released a statement dismissing the rumours, claiming the dozens of men seen queuing only wanted to show their solidarity with Russia.

The report came after Mr Putin declared up to 16,000 fighters from the Middle East were on call to join the conflict.

“If you see that there are these people who want to be there of their own accord, not for money, to come to help the people living in Donbas, then we need to give them what they want and help them get to the conflict zone,” the Russian President said at a televised Security Council meeting last month.

“As to the delivery of arms, especially western-made ones which have fallen into the hands of the Russian army -- of course I support the possibility of giving these to the military units of the Luhansk and Donetsk people’s republics.”

Mr Putin also ordered Defence Minister Sergei Shoigu to prepare a separate report on bolstering Russia’s western borders “in connection to the actions that NATO countries are taking in this direction”.

Russian President Vladimir Putin has previously welcomed foreign support.

On Thursday, the Russian leader claimed the “liberation” of Mariupol, after nearly two months of relentless attacks on the key port city.

“The completion of combat work to liberate Mariupol is a success,” Mr Putin said alongside Mr Shoigu.

Around 2000 Ukrainians are still inside the Azovstal steelworks site, where they have been defending against the advancing Russian forces.

Researchers from the Institute for the Study of War (ISW) said the next phase of Mr Putin’s plan will see his forces starving out the remaining Ukrainian defenders. “Russian forces will attempt to starve out remaining Ukrainian defenders in the Azovstal steel plant rather than clear it through likely costly assaults,” an assessment from the ISW stated.

“The Kremlin will spin the (still incomplete) capture of Mariupol into a major victory in Ukraine to compensate for stalled or failed Russian offensives elsewhere.”

Ukraine will need ‘hundreds of billions’ to rebuild, according to Volodymyr Zelensky.

In televised meeting, Mr Putin ordered Mr Shoigu to call off a planned storming of the plant, instead telling the military to seal off the steelworks site “so that not even a fly” can get through.

Meanwhile, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky has continued to plead for support as destruction continues across his country’s major cities.

He says rebuilding after the conflict will likely cost hundreds of billions of dollars, urging the World Bank and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) to provide up to $US7 billion ($9.5 billion) per month in aid.

“As of now given the economic downturn and broken economic ties, we need up to $US7 billion in financial support each month to make up for economic losses,” Mr Zelensky said.

“And we will need hundreds of billions of dollars to rebuild all this later and recover from this war.”

Mr Zelensky asked the IMF exclude Russia “immediately,” claiming international bodies such as the World Bank were “definitely not the place for a country which is trying to ruin the lives of its neighbours”.