Prime Minister Abiy, who had been in Sochi attending the Russia-Africa Summit, issued a statement upon his return the evening of the 26th, in which he vowed "to bring the perpetrators to justice" and warned that instability could worsen if "Ethiopians did not unite". Abiy has been criticized for his belated response on the violence, including by the Ethiopian Orthodox Tewahedo Church.[16][2] "People are dying and questions are being raised if the government even exists.