Poland hands over first MiG-29s to Ukraine

Poland has transferred several MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine.

This is the first batch of combat aircraft that the country will transfer to the Air Force of Ukraine.

Marcin Przydacz, head of the Bureau of International Policy Bureau under the President of Poland, made a corresponding statement on RMF24 radio.

“Several MiG-29s have already been delivered to Ukraine, they help Ukraine in the defense of the country… According to my information, this process of transferring the first part has already been completed,” Przydacz said.

He emphasized that Warsaw was giving Kyiv fighter jets that were supposed to be repaired in two to three years.

Marcin Przydacz added that Poland was replacing Soviet-era aircraft with modern American F-35 fighters and other modern equipment.

It is unknown how many fighter jets the Polish government is willing to transfer to Ukraine. At the same time, the Deputy Head of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Poland Paweł Jabłoński said the day before that it regarded only a part of the MiG-29 fighter jets that Poland had in service.

According to the publication Flight Global, as of 2023, there are 23 MiG-29s on combat duty in the Polish Air Force.

As previously reported, on March 23, Slovakia handed over the first four MiG-29s out of thirteen promised to Ukraine.

Bratislava received an offer from the USA to purchase 12 new AH-1Z VIPER attack helicopters to replace the aircraft transferred to Ukraine.