A Ukrainian-registered cargo plane linked to arms trafficking has made repeated flights between Abu Dhabi and a military airbase in Ethiopia, raising questions about Addis Ababa's role in the Sudan conflict and the UAE's use of African territory to circumvent international scrutiny.
The Antonov An-124, tail number UR-ZYD, flew at least five times between Abu Dhabi and Harar Meda—an Ethiopian Air Force base—between January 3 and 18, according to an investigation by Middle East Eye based on open-source flight tracking data.
The same aircraft was tracked flying between Bahrain's Sheikh Isa Air Base and Israel's Ovda base from December 28-31.
The plane's registered owner, according to a 2021 UN report, is Mohammed bin Zayed, president of the United Arab Emirates. It has a documented history: UN investigators found it violated arms sanctions in Libya, and previous flight records show sorties during the Tigray war in 2021.
Ethiopia becomes a logistics hub
After the UAE lost access to bases in Somalia—including Bosaso and Berbera—Emirati operations shifted to Ethiopia, where Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed has aligned closely with Gulf allies.
A Sudanese intelligence source told Middle East Eye that the Rapid Support Forces (RSF) had purchased fighter jets, including Sukhoi Su-24s and MiG-25s. The An-124 is capable of transporting 21 Toyota Land Cruisers or four Mi-17 helicopters in a single flight.
Nathaniel Raymond, executive director of the Yale Humanitarian Research Lab, told MEE the flight patterns are consistent with military logistics operations designed to obscure origins and destinations.
African sovereignty, external actors
The revelations underscore how regional conflicts are increasingly shaped by Gulf competition. The UAE has backed the RSF—accused of genocide in Darfur—while Saudi Arabia supports the Sudanese Armed Forces. Egypt, Turkey, and Pakistan have also provided military support to the SAF.
For Ethiopia, the calculus is economic and strategic. The UAE has invested heavily in Ethiopian infrastructure, and Abiy Ahmed's government faces pressure from all sides as it navigates conflicts in Tigray, tensions with Somalia, and internal political fragility.
But allowing foreign powers to use Ethiopian territory as a staging ground for proxy wars in neighboring countries raises fundamental questions about sovereignty, neutrality, and the African Union's stated principles of non-interference.
The UAE Foreign Ministry has denied supporting the RSF. Maximus Air, the operator registered to the aircraft, did not respond to requests for comment. Ethiopian authorities also declined to comment.
Yet the flight logs don't lie. The planes take off, they land, they refuel, they leave. And somewhere in Sudan, the war continues.
54 countries, 2,000 languages, 1.4 billion people. When Gulf powers fight their proxy wars, they increasingly do it on African soil—and with African complicity.
