By Diadie Ba
DAKAR (Reuters) – Senegal’s foreign ministry condemned as illegal a Facebook post by Ukraine’s embassy on Thursday that called for Senegalese volunteers to join its fight against Russia, the ministry said in a statement.
Recruitment of volunteers, mercenaries and other foreign fighters is illegal in Senegal and punishable by law, the statement said.
Ukrainian ambassador Yurii Pyvovarov was summoned to the ministry to explain the post, where after verifying its legitimacy he was asked to take it down, the statement said. It was not immediately clear if additional actions would be taken.
Ukrainian officials have made similar calls in other countries, some of which have been answered. Local media in Japan reported on Tuesday that dozens of men had registered as volunteers through a Tokyo-based company.
Senegal was one of 17 African countries that abstained from a United Nations vote rebuking the Russian invasion of Ukraine and calling on Moscow to immediately withdraw its forces.
The resolution was passed at the end of a rare emergency session of the General Assembly called by the Security Council and as Russian forces pounded Ukraine’s cities with air strikes and bombardments, forcing hundreds of thousands of people to flee.
(Reporting by Diadie Ba; writing by Cooper Inveen; editing by Jonathan Oatis)
