Please ensure Javascript is enabled for purposes of website accessibility
Poland Sending Soviet MiG Fighter Jets Help Ukraine Fend off Russia
gvw_ap_news
By Associated Press
Published 1 year ago on
March 16, 2023

Share

Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

Poland’s president said Thursday that his country plans to give Ukraine around a dozen MiG-29 fighter jets, which would make it the first NATO member to fulfill the Ukrainian government’s increasingly urgent requests for warplanes.

President Andrzej Duda said Poland would hand over four of the Soviet-made warplanes “within the next few days” and that the rest needed servicing and would be supplied later. The Polish word he used to describe their number can mean between 11 and 19.

“They are in the last years of their functioning but they are in good working condition,” Duda said of the aircraft.

Duda did not say whether other countries would be making the same move, although Slovakia has said it would send its disused MiGs to Ukraine.

On Wednesday, Polish government spokesman Piotr Mueller said some other countries with MiGs also had pledged them to Kyiv, but he did not name them.

While Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has pleaded for Western supporters to share fighter jets, NATO allies have expressed hesitancy.

Before Russia’s full-scale invasion, Ukraine had several dozen MiG-29s it inherited in the collapse of the Soviet Union, but it’s unclear how many of them remain in service after more than a year of fighting.

The debate over whether to provide non-NATO country Ukraine with fighter jets was initiated over a year ago, but NATO has been wary of making the war escalate.

Duda made the announcement during a joint news conference in Warsaw with the visiting Czech president, Petr Pavel.

Duda said Poland’s air force would replace the planes it gives to Ukraine with South Korea-made FA-50 fighters and American-made F-35s.

Poland was also the first NATO nation to hand German-made Leopard 2 tanks to Ukraine, last month.

Poland is a crucial ally in the Ukraine crisis. It is hosting thousands of American troops and is taking in more people fleeing the war in Ukraine than any other nation, in the midst of the largest European refugee crisis in decades.

It has suffered invasions and occupations by Russia for centuries and still fears Russia despite being a member of NATO.

RELATED TOPICS:

DON'T MISS

Jack Black, a Small Dog With a Big Heart, Is Looking for His Forever Home

DON'T MISS

Kamala Harris: A Baptist With a Jewish Husband and a Faith That Traces Back to MLK and Gandhi

DON'T MISS

What Italian Grandmothers Can Teach You About Healthy Eating

DON'T MISS

CA Has Seen Many New Towns, but This Big Project Is Stalled

DON'T MISS

Kern County Farmland Values Continue Downward Slide

DON'T MISS

Crescent View West High Celebrates New Clovis Home

DON'T MISS

Fresno Man Sentenced to 29 Years for Sexually Assaulting Children and Dog

DON'T MISS

Bulldogs’ Two-Position Standout Tommy Hopfe Signs With Rockies

DON'T MISS

Artists, Vendors Plan to Defy City’s ArtHop Crackdown

DON'T MISS

Former Bulldog QB Jake Haener: I Have a ‘Rare Form of Skin Cancer’

UP NEXT

95 Libyan Nationals Arrested in South Africa at Suspected Secret Military Training Camp

UP NEXT

Arson Attacks Cause Travel Chaos Before Start of Olympics in Paris, Thwarting Athletes’ Travel

UP NEXT

Mexican Drug Kingpin Ismael ‘El Mayo’ Zambada in US Custody

UP NEXT

Harris Tells Netanyahu ‘It Is Time’ to Get Hostage Deal Done and End Gaza War

UP NEXT

Biden and Netanyahu Meet With a Show of Amiable Relations Despite Tensions

UP NEXT

Palestinian Olympic Team Greeted With Cheers and Gifts in Paris

UP NEXT

Netanyahu: A Small Man in a Big Time?

UP NEXT

FACT FOCUS: A Look at Netanyahu’s Claims About Israel, Hamas and Iran During His Speech to Congress

UP NEXT

Netanyahu Defends War in Gaza and Denounces Protesters In Fiery Speech to Congress

UP NEXT

UN Cultural Agency Rejects Plan to Place Britain’s Stonehenge on List of Heritage Sites in Danger

CA Has Seen Many New Towns, but This Big Project Is Stalled

2 hours ago

Kern County Farmland Values Continue Downward Slide

2 hours ago

Crescent View West High Celebrates New Clovis Home

13 hours ago

Fresno Man Sentenced to 29 Years for Sexually Assaulting Children and Dog

14 hours ago

Bulldogs’ Two-Position Standout Tommy Hopfe Signs With Rockies

14 hours ago

Artists, Vendors Plan to Defy City’s ArtHop Crackdown

14 hours ago

Former Bulldog QB Jake Haener: I Have a ‘Rare Form of Skin Cancer’

15 hours ago

The Many Names of GOP Vice Presidential Nominee JD Vance

15 hours ago

‘Fed Up’ Dyer, Councilmembers Unveil Plan to Crack Down on Street Campers

15 hours ago

House Republicans Slam Trump’s ‘Worst Choice’ for VP Pick JD Vance

16 hours ago

Jack Black, a Small Dog With a Big Heart, Is Looking for His Forever Home

In October last year, a heartwarming tale of resilience and recovery began in the unlikeliest of places: a crate abandoned in an alley. This...

1 hour ago

1 hour ago

Jack Black, a Small Dog With a Big Heart, Is Looking for His Forever Home

1 hour ago

Kamala Harris: A Baptist With a Jewish Husband and a Faith That Traces Back to MLK and Gandhi

1 hour ago

What Italian Grandmothers Can Teach You About Healthy Eating

2 hours ago

CA Has Seen Many New Towns, but This Big Project Is Stalled

2 hours ago

Kern County Farmland Values Continue Downward Slide

13 hours ago

Crescent View West High Celebrates New Clovis Home

14 hours ago

Fresno Man Sentenced to 29 Years for Sexually Assaulting Children and Dog

14 hours ago

Bulldogs’ Two-Position Standout Tommy Hopfe Signs With Rockies

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend