Defence Minister Kiryowa Kiwanuka has told a visiting Russian military delegation that Uganda will hold firm on its defence cooperation with Moscow, insisting the relationship would not be knocked off course.
“We will maintain our relationship with Russia, and we will remain engaged. We are not going to get distracted,” Kiwanuka said at the meeting, held at the Ministry of Defence and Veteran Affairs headquarters in Mbuya, Kampala. He described the ties as long-standing and cordial, and said Uganda was open to mutually beneficial business and cooperation in areas of shared interest.
Kiwanuka, a former attorney general who took over the defence docket in President Yoweri Museveni’s May 2026 cabinet reshuffle, was speaking as the two sides continue a dialogue that gathered pace earlier in the year. In early July, a Russian delegation led by Dmitry Ivanov set out three priority areas for cooperation — strengthening the legal framework for defence relations, supplying modern military equipment, and joint cybersecurity work — and reaffirmed a standing offer of US$53 million in military-technical assistance. Russia transferred $53 million in military equipment to Uganda at a ceremony in Jinja in October 2025.
Speaking for the visiting delegation, the Russian military and air attaché to Uganda, Colonel Dmitrii Borisenko, said Moscow valued the cordial ties and was committed to deepening military-to-military cooperation with Kampala.
The relationship runs deep. Kampala’s military links with Moscow date back to the 1960s, and Uganda has bought Russian jets, helicopters, artillery and reconnaissance equipment over the years. In April 2024 the two countries signed a bilateral security and defence cooperation agreement — their first security-focused pact since 2003 — and Russia has established a hub in Uganda to maintain and upgrade Russian-built military aircraft. The deepening ties come as much of the West maintains sanctions on Moscow over its war in Ukraine; Uganda has continued to court Russia while also pursuing defence partnerships with the United Kingdom, the Netherlands, South Korea and Pakistan.
The meeting was also attended by the under secretary for finance, Edith Buturo; the chief of joint staff, Lt Gen Jack Bakasumba; Russian cooperation representative Dmitrii Ivanov; and other officials from both sides.
