Ethiopian PM Ahmed Takes Delivery of Russian Su-35 Fighter Jets

At the 3rd Russia-Africa Summit (#RAS2026), Ethiopian PM Abiy Ahmed and Russian State Minister for Foreign Affairs Hadera Abera jointly announced several major deals and bilateral agreements to strengthen the ties between Addis Ababa and Moscow.

Ethiopia ordered twelve Su-35 fighter jets amid rising tensions in the Horn of Africa. While in Moscow, PM Abiy inspected and took delivery of the Su-35 fighter jets. In addition, Ethiopia has ordered four S-400 air defense batteries.

Ethiopia and Russia signed an agreement to modernize the Balcha Hospital in Addis Ababa. The Ethiopian News Agency (ENA) signed an MoU with Russian state media outlets TASS and Russia Today (RT) to exchange information and expand media cooperation. PM Abiy invited Russian universities and research institutions to help establish the Maddamar University of Artificial Intelligence (#AI).

President Abiy reiterated his interest in acquiring Russian civil nuclear technology. Ethiopia has shortlisted three potential sites for nuclear power plants and targets a combined capacity of 2,400 MW. Although Ethiopia has huge hydropower resources, it still wants to diversify into nuclear to guard against climate change.