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During his attendance at the 2024 Russia-Africa Summit in Moscow, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed officially confirmed that his nation has received a full fleet of 12 advanced Su-35 fighter jets from Russia, delivered far earlier than the timeline outlined in a bilateral military procurement deal first struck several years prior. Abiy framed the acquisition as a landmark milestone in Ethiopia’s long-term national defense modernization agenda, noting that the country has also formalized plans to procure four S-400 long-range air defense systems from Moscow in the near future. The delivery of the high-performance combat aircraft arrives as hostilities re-escalate in Ethiopia’s northern Tigray region, where clashes between federal government forces and the Tigray People’s Liberation Front (TPLF) have reignited just weeks after the breakdown of a 2022 ceasefire agreement that ended a two-year brutal civil war. Both parties have publicly accused one another of violating the terms of that prior peace accord. Abiy went on to emphasize that Ethiopia has now become the first nation in sub-Saharan Africa to operate this tier of cutting-edge fourth-generation combat aviation technology, framing the hardware as a critical bulwark against external security threats. He specifically singled out long-simmering frictions with neighboring Eritrea, which gained formal independence from Ethiopia in 1993 after decades of armed conflict, leaving Ethiopia entirely landlocked. Abiy has previously described Ethiopia’s lack of direct maritime access as an “existential national priority,” a stance that Eritrea’s government has repeatedly denounced as a direct threat to its territorial sovereignty. Ethiopian federal authorities have also long accused Eritrea of providing military backing to the TPLF, a claim Eritrean officials have consistently rejected. Describing Russian President Vladimir Putin as a “close friend of Ethiopia,” Abiy noted that the Su-35 platforms are engineered for dual air-to-air and air-to-ground operational roles, with on-board systems capable of detecting and neutralizing incoming cruise missiles at ranges of up to 200 kilometers. He added that these new fighter jets will complement Ethiopia’s already extensive existing drone arsenal, which includes Turkish and Chinese unmanned aerial vehicles that have seen widespread deployment in recent domestic conflicts. “If we fail to build this layered, multi-domain defense capability, sustaining our sovereignty as a nation in our volatile region will become exponentially more difficult. States that invest in adequate defensive preparedness are far less likely to face unwarranted aggression,” Abiy stated. Local military intelligence analyst Qalaab Segatu, speaking to BBC Amharic, noted that the Su-35 delivery signals Ethiopia is preparing for potential cross-border conflicts beyond its ongoing internal security operations, pointing to the jets’ exceptional maneuverability, long-range coverage, and advanced radar systems that can secure full regional air superiority. When paired with the forthcoming S-400 air defense batteries, the combined system will create a robust defensive umbrella protecting major urban centers and critical national infrastructure, most notably the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, a massive hydroelectric project that has been a source of regional diplomatic friction for years. This latest procurement builds on a series of steadily expanding bilateral military cooperation pacts between Russia and Ethiopia, including a 2021 agreement focused on joint military training and defense technology sharing.

Against the backdrop of prolonged, deadly unrest in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo that saw the M23 rebel movement seize control of key urban hubs Goma and Bukavu in January 2025, the United States has rolled out sweeping new punitive measures targeting Rwanda’s Ministry of Defence, ramping up diplomatic and economic pressure on Kigali to end its alleged backing for the insurgency and pull all its military personnel out of Congolese territory.
U.S. Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent issued a stark public directive alongside the announcement, stating unequivocally: “Rwanda must halt its support for M23 and withdraw its troops from eastern DRC.” The latest sanctions mark a major escalation of Washington’s efforts to enforce the terms of the U.S.-brokered Washington Accords, a landmark peace deal signed by the Rwandan and Congolese presidents in December 2025 that was designed to de-escalate cross-border tensions, end years of armed confrontation, and unlock expanded regional trade and investment opportunities. Despite the high-profile signing, widespread fighting has persisted across resource-rich eastern DRC, with M23 forces capturing swathes of mineral-dense land across North and South Kivu, including lucrative gold mining sites in South Kivu and Rubaya, the world’s top coltan producing region critical to global electronics supply chains.
The U.S. Treasury’s formal investigation alleges that Rwanda’s defence ministry deployed thousands of its own active-duty troops to fight directly alongside M23 insurgents inside Congolese borders, while supplying the rebel network with heavy weaponry, military equipment, logistical support, and specialized combat training. U.S. officials further claim that minerals extracted from M23-held territories are systematically funneled into Rwandan domestic supply chains, pointing out that Kigali’s official export volumes for key minerals far outstrip the country’s domestic production capacity, a discrepancy that can only be explained by transit of conflict resources from eastern DRC.
In addition to targeting Rwanda’s defence ministry, the U.S. Treasury designated the Zigama Credit and Savings Society, a financial institution that exclusively serves Rwandan security and military personnel, for punitive measures. Washington accuses the lender of facilitating tens of millions of dollars in opaque transactions for M23 and its political affiliate, the Congo River Alliance, processing payments for Chinese-sourced military hardware for Rwandan forces, and enabling the smuggling of Congolese gold from rebel-held zones directly to Kigali. Under the terms of the sanctions, all assets belonging to the two designated entities that fall under U.S. jurisdiction are immediately frozen, and all U.S. citizens, companies, and organizations are prohibited from engaging in any form of transaction with the sanctioned parties unless granted explicit, case-by-case exemption by U.S. regulators. Violations carry heavy civil and criminal penalties for both U.S. and foreign entities that run afoul of the rules.
These new measures build on a series of earlier U.S. punitive actions dating back to March 2026, when Washington sanctioned Rwanda’s national army and four of its most senior operational military commanders, followed by additional sanctions in June 2026 targeting the Gasabo gold refinery and three Rwandan mining firms accused of running illegal conflict mineral smuggling rings.
Hours before the latest sanctions were publicly announced on 24 October, Congolese President Félix Tshisekedi made an urgent public plea to the global community to ramp up collective pressure on Rwanda. “We must firmly demand that the international community impose concrete sanctions against Rwanda and exert increased pressure, so that we may finally secure a lasting peace in our country,” Tshisekedi stated. The Congolese foreign ministry later issued an official statement formally welcoming the U.S. sanctions, and calling on Rwanda to abide by all of its commitments under the Washington Accords, respect the core tenets of the UN Charter, and fully withdraw all military personnel from sovereign Congolese soil.
Rwandan government spokesperson Yolande Makolo pushed back forcefully against the allegations in an official statement provided to the BBC, arguing that the unmet obligations under the Washington Accords fall on Kinshasa, not Kigali. “The Washington Accords contain clear commitments regarding Rwanda’s security, specifically the neutralization of the DR Congo-sponsored FDLR genocidal militia, which are wholly unmet, and with no accountability,” Makolo noted. The FDLR, a armed group whose leadership includes perpetrators of the 1994 Rwandan genocide, operates out of remote bases in eastern DRC, and Kigali has long cited its existence as an existential national security threat to justify its ongoing military deployments across the border. Makolo went on to confirm that “Rwanda remains ready to fully implement the Washington Accords, concurrently with the willingness of the DRC to fulfill those commitments, and with the mediator holding all parties accountable.”
Parallel to the diplomatic and financial pressure, Rwanda’s high-profile global sports partnerships are also coming under growing scrutiny. Two prominent U.S. senators, Jeff Merkley and Marsha Blackburn, sent a formal letter to National Basketball Association (NBA) commissioner Adam Silver on 23 October, urging the league to immediately review and reconsider its ongoing commercial partnership with Kigali, on the grounds that it may contradict the NBA’s publicly stated organizational commitment to upholding global human rights standards. The NBA has not yet released a detailed, substantive response to the senators’ inquiry.
For years, Rwanda has leveraged high-profile international sports sponsorships and event hosting deals to boost its global soft power profile and attract international tourism and investment. Earlier in October 2026, the country secured a landmark 10-year agreement to host Formula 1’s long-awaited African Grand Prix starting in the early 2030s. However, two of its highest-profile European football partnerships have already collapsed, with its sponsorship deal with English Premier League side Arsenal expiring in 2026, and German Bundesliga giant Bayern Munich also terminating its commercial collaboration with the Rwandan tourism marketing initiative Visit Rwanda.