Russia donates equipment to UPDF

The IMR armoured engineering vehicles and GAZ-66 trucks that Russia donated to the UPDF. (Yoweri K Museveni)

Russia had donated USD53 million in equipment to the Uganda People's Defence Force (UPDF), it was announced on 26 October.

The UPDF said President Yoweri Museveni received equipment that included obstacle clearance and trench digging machines, boats, and a coastal station during a ceremony held at the College of Logistics and Engineering (COLE) in Magamaga.

It quoted Russian Ambassador to Uganda Vladlen Semivolos as saying the equipment donation was the first of two phases, with the second involving the construction of a maintenance and repair facility in Magamaga and a boat storage site and floating pier in Entebbe, with the work expected to be completed by September 2026.

In a separate statement, Museveni said he inaugurated work on the new Military Mechanised Major Repair Facility in Magamaga and a workshop in Entebbe.

Photographs of the event showed the donation included two IMR armoured engineering vehicles, a TMK-2 wheeled trench digger, two GAZ-66 trucks with shelters, two towed generators, and other equipment that could not be identified. The IMR uses the hull from the T-55 tank and has a bulldozer blade at the front and a telescopic arm that can be used to grab and move obstacles.

The line-up also included what looked like the Project BL-820 boat that is used by Russian naval and security forces as well as two smaller rigid hull inflatables made by the Russian company Mnev & Co.

Senior Russian and Ugandan officers were also awarded medals from each other's military during the ceremony, further emphasising the close military ties between the two countries.

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