Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed said on 28 October that Ethiopia had taken delivery of its first 12 Russian Su-35 fighter jets and would receive four S-400 air defence batteries, announcing the purchase as he arrived in Moscow for the third Russia–Africa Summit. Abiy said the jets arrived a year ahead of schedule; he gave no date for the S-400 systems. The jets reinforce the air force while government forces fight in Tigray, now under a federal caretaker administration, and against Fano militias in Amhara. The announcement came on the day Sudan accused Ethiopia of letting drones that struck Sudanese power stations take off from its territory, raising the stakes of any border confrontation.
Sources
- Ethiopian News Agency: https://www.ena.et/web/eng/w/eng_9827641
- Reuters (via Yahoo News): https://ca.news.yahoo.com/ethiopia-receives-12-russian-su-163530398.html
- Army Recognition: https://www.armyrecognition.com/news/aerospace-news/2026/russia-delivers-first-su-35-fighter-jets-to-ethiopia-with-s-400-air-defense-systems-to-follow
- Radio Tamazuj: https://www.radiotamazuj.org/en/news/article/sudan-accuses-ethiopia-of-involvement-in-drone-strikes-on-infrastructure
- Xinhua: https://english.news.cn/20261029/99f86256ec7a4b1dba214d3133ac6c6f/c.html