Poland will send Soviet-designed MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine in the coming days, the president said today, making it the first NATO member to respond to increasingly urgent demands of war planes from Kiev in their fight against Russia.
President Andrzej Duda said Poland would send four of the fighter jets to Ukraine “in the next few days”, while a dozen more will be sent in the coming weeks after being repaired.
“In the next few days, we will first transfer, if I remember correctly, four fully operational aircraft to Ukraine,” Duda said. “Additional aircraft are currently in preparation, under maintenance, and will likely be transferred in succession.”
“So we can say that we are on the verge of sending these MiGs to Ukraine,” he said, adding that Poland currently has around 10 MiG aircraft inherited from the former German Democratic Republic.
“These MiGs are still in service with the Polish Air Force. They are in their final years of operation but are still mostly in full working order,” Duda said.
Poland will send Soviet-designed MiG-29 fighter jets (file image) to Ukraine in the coming days, the president said today, making it the first NATO member to respond to requests for increasingly urgent fighter jets from Kiev in their fight against Russia.
President Andrzej Duda said Poland would send four of the fighter jets (file image) to Ukraine “in the coming weeks”, while up to 15 more will be sent in the coming weeks after being repaired.
The MiG-29s will help Ukraine destroy Russian air targets within radar coverage as well as ground targets using unguided missiles. The aircraft also has large wing extensions which give it good maneuverability and control at subsonic speeds.
One of Ukraine’s staunchest supporters, Warsaw has played a leading role in persuading sometimes hesitant allies to supply Kiev with heavy weapons.
Duda did not say whether other countries would do the same, although Slovakia said it would send its decommissioned MiGs to Ukraine to replace losses from current Kyiv stocks.
Earlier on Thursday, Polish Defense Minister Mariusz Blaszczak said Poland wanted to transfer MiG-29 jets to Ukraine “as part of a larger coalition of countries”.
Asked about the countries in this coalition, Blaszczak mentioned Slovakia but added “of course we are open to others”.
“We absolutely want to carry out our activity within the framework of a coalition,” he added.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki said deliveries could be made in four to six weeks.
On Wednesday, Polish government spokesman Piotr Mueller said other countries with MiGs had also promised them to Kyiv, but he did not name them.
Ukraine’s air force has a fleet of aging Soviet-era fighter jets that rolled off the assembly line even before Kiev declared independence more than 31 years ago. Warplanes are used for interception missions and to attack Russian positions.
While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pleaded for Western partisans to share fighter jets, NATO allies have expressed hesitation.
Prior to Russia’s full-scale invasion in February last year, Ukraine had several dozen MiG-29s it inherited during the collapse of the Soviet Union, but it is unclear how many of them remain in service after more than a year of fighting.
The debate over whether to supply non-NATO country Ukraine with fighter jets was launched more than a year ago, but NATO has been cautious about escalation of war.
Dutch Foreign Minister Wopke Hoekstra said in January that he was considering supplying F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine. The Netherlands has about 40 American F-16s while seven other European NATO countries fly the jets, including Poland and Norway.
Polish Prime Minister Morawiecki also said on Tuesday that Warsaw was also considering supplying American-made F-16 fighter jets, which would give the Ukrainians a qualitative advantage over the Russians.
But the Biden administration, which has so far rejected Kiev’s calls for fourth-generation fighter jets, must approve these third-party transfers through which a country re-exports its American planes to Ukraine to defend its airspace against attacks. Russian attacks.
The UK, among Kiev’s staunchest military supporters and suppliers, has also remained hesitant about sending Typhoon and F-35 jets to Ukraine on the grounds that it would take months, if not years, to train. pilots accustomed to Soviet-era fighters. Experts say they wouldn’t be the most effective jets for the battlefield either.
Members of the Ukrainian special unit gather in the woods near Bachmut in the Donbass region on March 15
A member of a Ukrainian special unit checks and readies his weapon in the woods near Bachmut in the Donbass region on March 15
In contrast, the Ukrainian Air Force is familiar with MiG-29s, which means it could use the planes immediately.
Duda made the announcement during a joint press conference in Warsaw with visiting Czech President Petr Pavel.
Duda said Poland has about 10-20 MiG 29 aircraft. Korean and American-made F-35s.
Poland was also the first NATO country to hand over German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine last month.
Earlier this year, Washington announced it was sending 31 of its fast M1 Abrams tanks to Ukraine, while Berlin will initially supply at least 14 Leopard 2 tanks and allow other NATO nations to deliver theirs to Kiev.
Britain was the first NATO country to announce it would send 14 next-generation main battle tanks to Ukraine in the form of Challenger 2 tanks.
Poland is a crucial ally in the Ukrainian crisis. It is home to thousands of American soldiers and hosts more people fleeing war in Ukraine than any other country, amid the biggest European refugee crisis in decades.
It has endured invasions and occupations by Russia for centuries and still fears Russia despite being a member of NATO.
It comes as Russia continued a months-long campaign to capture the small eastern Ukrainian town of Bakhmut, in what would be its first substantial victory in more than six months.
The Russian-installed leader in Ukraine’s eastern Donetsk region said on Thursday that the situation around the now-ruined city remained “complex and difficult”, with Kiev defiantly refusing to withdraw its strengths.
“That is to say, we don’t see any premise that the enemy is just going to withdraw units,” Denis Pushilin said in an interview on state television.
Zelensky said this week that his top military brass had advised Bakhmut to be strengthened.
Kiev had last month appeared to be preparing to withdraw from the city, but has since decided to defend it, saying it was exhausting the Russian attack force there to pave the way for its own counterattack.
In its daily intelligence update on the war in Ukraine, the British Ministry of Defense said on Thursday that Russian attempts to capture the town of Vuhledar, about 150 km (93 miles) southwest of Bakhmut, had “almost certainly slowed down” after repeated and very costly attacks over the past three months.
On Wednesday, Ukrainian soldiers march along a street in the area of the fiercest battles with Russian invaders in Bakhmut, Donetsk region, Ukraine.
North of Bakhmut, Ukrainian troops in a bombed-out village near the town of Kreminna fought to counter what they said was Russia’s attempt to undertake a giant pincer movement.
“The Russians are trying to adapt in real time,” said a member of a drone unit by the name of “Zara”. “It gives us big problems, because we have to think a few steps ahead – how to complete the mission and not let the enemy know how we did it.”
The war has resulted in the destruction of Ukrainian cities, the death of tens of thousands of people and the flight of millions from their homes. It also rattled the global economy, driving up energy and food prices.
President Vladimir Putin, meeting members of Russia’s business elite on Thursday for the first time since the invasion, urged them to invest in their country to help it through what he called the ‘sanctions war’ of the West.
Many of those attending the meeting are themselves under Western sanctions due to what Putin calls Russia’s “special military operation” in Ukraine.
