President confirms Poland to ship MiG-29s to Ukraine in coming days

By Jo Harper

WARSAW (AA) – Poland will transport four MiG-29 aircraft to Ukraine in the coming days, Polish President Andrzej Duda said at a press conference after a meeting with his Czech counterpart Petr Pavel in Warsaw.

“This is about MiG-29, which are still an active aircraft in the air defense of our country. We are literally transporting these MiGs to Ukraine now. We still have a dozen of them," he said.

Duda said the MiGs were taken over in the early 1990s from the East German air force. “These are the last years of their operation in accordance with their technical capabilities,” he added.

“They will be replaced by newly delivered FA-50 aircraft from South Korea, the first ones are expected at the end of the year. And then squadrons of F-35 aircraft,” he added.

The transfer of MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine may take place within 4-6 weeks, Prime Minister Mateusz​​​​​​​ Morawiecki said two days ago.

Slovakia's readiness to transfer MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine has also been confirmed by the Minister of Defense of Slovakia Jaroslav Nad. Slovakia is ready to hand over 10 out of 11 retired post-Soviet fighters to Ukraine.