The Canada Brief

World · 6 d ago

Sukhoi Su-35 fighter jet

Oleg Belyakov · CC BY-SA 3.0 · Wikimedia Commons

Ethiopia receives 12 Russian Su-35 jets and plans to buy S-400s

Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said the 12 jets arrived a year earlier than expected under an existing agreement with Moscow. He announced it on X during a visit to Moscow for the Russia-Africa Summit.

S-400 air defence batteries Ethiopia will acquire

4 batteries

Ethiopia will also acquire four S-400 air defence batteries. Abiy gave no date for their arrival.

Mekelle, capital of Tigray, Ethiopia

Yonas Kidane · CC BY-SA 2.0 · Wikimedia Commons

The announcement comes as Ethiopian forces fight renewed battles with rebels in Tigray and a separate rebellion in the Amhara region. Government troops entered the Tigray capital, Mekelle, on Oct 4.

Share of Africa's major arms imports from Russia, 2021-2025

15 %

Russia supplied 15 per cent of Africa's major weapons imports from 2021 to 2025, making it the continent's third-largest supplier.