Uganda’s military would treat aggression against Russia as aggression against the African continent, Land Forces commander Muhoozi Kainerugaba has indicated.
“President Putin does not have to threaten nuclear war. We hear him. An attack on Russia is an attack on Africa!” Kainerugaba wrote in a tweet Saturday.
President Putin does not have to threaten nuclear war. We hear him. An attack on Russia is an attack on Africa! pic.twitter.com/r2Xpe56V5Q
— Muhoozi Kainerugaba ‘Rubereza’ (@mkainerugaba) September 24, 2022
Kainerugaba joined the military in 1999, and was appointed commander of the Uganda People’s Defense Force’s Land Forces in 2021. He is the son of President Museveni.
The statement came in the midst of increasing tensions between Russia and the West, most recently due to referendums in the Donetsk and Lugansk People’s Republics (DPR and LPR), as well as Russian-controlled parts of the regions of Kherson and Zaporozhye, on the territories’ possible accession to the Russian Federation.
On 21 September, Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed support for the referenda, and emphasized that Moscow would use “all means” to defend the country’s territorial integrity.
“If the territorial integrity of our country is threatened, we will without doubt use all available means to protect Russia and our people – this is not a bluff”, Putin said, warning that “those trying to blackmail us with nuclear weapons should know that the tables can turn on them”.
Russia launched its operation in Ukraine in February in response to a request for assistance from the DPR and LPR amid fears of a looming Ukrainian invasion.
After the start of Russia’s special military operation, Western countries slapped Russia with sanctions, sparking a global energy and food crisis which has hit neediest countries the hardest.
Uganda was one of the 17 African countries which abstained in a March vote on a United Nations resolution to condemn Russia’s military operation in Ukraine.
During the July visit of Russian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sergei Lavrov to the African country, Uganda’s president Yoweri Museveni praised Moscow for its assistance in the fight against colonialism in the 20th century.
“Whenever issues come up and some people want us to take positions against Russia, we say, ‘But you people, these people have been with us for the last 100 years, how can we be automatically against them?’” Museveni told Lavrov.