Ethiopia has received a dozen Russian Su-35 fighter jets and will later receive four S-400 air defense systems as part of a push to bolster its military capabilities, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on Wednesday.
Abiy wrote on X that Russia’s deliveries marked a milestone in Ethiopia’s efforts to strengthen national security and “pre-emptively deter aggression.”
He said Russian President Vladimir Putin had helped ensure the fourth-generation Su-35 military planes were delivered a year earlier than scheduled.
Abiy did not disclose the value of the agreement, when the S-400 systems would be delivered or where the aircraft and air defense batteries would be based.
Ethiopia faces multiple security challenges, including in the northern Tigray region, where a rebel alliance last month launched an offensive against the government, rekindling a war that killed hundreds of thousands of people between 2020 and 2022
In the previous conflict, its air power — especially through the widespread deployment of foreign-made drones — helped turn the tide of the fighting.
The renewed fighting led to the severing of ties between Ethiopia and its neighbour Eritrea, which Addis Ababa accuses of backing the rebels, although Asmara denies that.
The Russian state-owned defence conglomerate Rostec, responsible for Russian arms exports, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
