FACT CHECK: Photo Claims To Show Ethiopian Missile System

An image shared on Facebook claims to show an Ethiopian Missile system.

Verdict: False

The image shows a Russian missile system, not an Ethiopian missile system.

Fact Check:

Social media users are claiming to show an Ethiopian missile system. One user wrote, “Ethiopian’s Most Powerful Intercontinental Ballistic Missile in the World #Ethiopia.” (RELATED: Claim That Pam Bondi Has Petitioned The Courts To Vacate Anthony Fauci’s Pardon Is Satire)

This claim is false. Through a reverse image search, Check Your Fact found that the image was published by the Russian Ministry of Defense in 2021. The image description, “‘A column of Yars mobile ground-based missile systems marches from Ivanovo Oblast to Moscow Region to prepare for a military parade on Red Square.’”

The Ethiopian armed forces do not have those types of missile systems. Wikipedia does not list any “Yars” missile systems in Ethiopia’s military arsenal. Oryx, when reporting on missile strikes during the Tigray War, lists one system, the “Chinese-made M20 short-range ballistic missile,” but does not list any Yars systems.

The Arms Control Association does not list Ethiopia as a user of intercontinental ballistic missiles. AFP Fact Check also debunked this claim.