Polish Defense Minister Blaszczak announced the transfer of 10 MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine alreadyAt the moment, the Polish government has already transferred 10 MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine.
This was announced on May 8 by the Minister of National Defense of Poland Mariusz Blaszczak.
"We have delivered ten MiG-29s to Ukraine," the head of the military department said in a speech on the Canadian TV channel CPAC.
The statement of the Polish Defense Minister was made in Ottawa after a meeting with his Canadian counterpart Anita Anand.
Before that, on April 3, the Polish authorities reported that they had handed over several MiG-29 fighters to Kiev. At the same time, Polish President Andrzej Duda on April 5, after a meeting with Ukrainian President Vladimir Zelensky in Warsaw, announced that the republic would transfer only 14 MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine, leaving copies upgraded to NATO standards.
Later, on April 17, Slovakia announced the transfer of 13 MiG-29 fighters to Kiev. As the country's Defense Minister Yaroslav Nagy noted, these aircraft are of no practical use to Slovakia itself, while Ukraine may need them. The first four planes were sent on March 23.
Commenting on this news, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko noted that the MiG-29s transferred to Kiev will replenish the Russian statistics of downed aircraft in Ukraine. In particular, several such aircraft were shot down in early April in the Donetsk People's Republic (DPR), he said.
On April 23, The Economist magazine pointed out that many of the MiG-29 fighters that Poland and Slovakia recently sent to Ukraine had been disassembled for spare parts. The article indicates that many aircraft are in a non-flying condition.
Western countries have increased military and financial support for Ukraine after the start of Russia's special operation to protect Donbass. The decision on the special operation was made by President Vladimir Putin against the background of the aggravation of the situation in the region due to the increased shelling by Ukrainian militants.