Poland will send four MiG 29 fighter jets to Ukraine in the “next few days” to support the country in its fight against the Russian invasion, Polish President Andrzej Duda announced Thursday. Poland thus becomes the first NATO country to make this decision.
“In the next few days we are going to transfer, if I remember correctly, four fully operational aircraft to Ukraine,” Duda said during a joint appearance with his Czech counterpart Petr Pavel, with whom he met this Thursday in Warsaw. According to official information, the Polish Air Force currently has of 28 combat aircraft of the MiG 29 type.
Duda explained that the rest of the Polish fighters of this class are being prepared so that they can also be transferred to the Ukrainian Army, noting that although the Polish air force uses a dozen aircraft of this type at present, they are “in the last years of his service.
Warsaw is waiting to receive Korean planes
From Warsaw they have always encouraged the allied countries to send heavy weapons and promoted the agreement to send Leopard tanks to Ukraine.
The decision to transfer the planes to Ukraine has been taken “jointly at the level of the highest national authorities” and then the Government has adopted a special resolution in this regard, as explained by Duda.
Polish Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki had advanced this week that Ukraine would receive combat aircraft from Poland within a Four to six weeks and Duda has confirmed the delivery plans on Wednesday in an interview.
The Polish president has also announced that Warsaw is waiting to receive Korean FA-50 aircraft, ordered by Poland last year, and American F-35 ordered in 2020.
The Polish government has said it plans to donate the planes to Ukraine as part of an international coalition.
For her part, the Danish Prime Minister, Mette Frederiksen, stated when asked about it that kyiv’s allies are discussing the possibility of delivering fighters.
Last February, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg insisted that the priority for allies that support Ukraine militarily is to send the battle tanks and ammunition, noting that fighters are not an “urgent issue” at this time.
