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

Fresno State Shows the Nation How a Peaceful Palestinian Protest is Done

DON'T MISS

Wired Wednesday: Digging Into Fresno’s Trash Hauling Fees

DON'T MISS

Fresno State Announces 2024 Undergraduate Deans’ Medalists

DON'T MISS

Duane Eddy, Twangy Guitar Hero of Early Rock, Dead at Age 86

DON'T MISS

Fresno State’s Randa Jarrar Dragged Out of Event Featuring Big Bang Theory’s Mayim Bialik

DON'T MISS

Trump Calls Judge ‘Crooked’ After Facing a Warning of Jail Time if He Violates a Trial Gag Order

DON'T MISS

Federal Reserve Says Interest Rates Will Stay at Two-Decade High Until Inflation Further Cools

DON'T MISS

House Passes Bill Expanding Antisemitism Definition Amid Campus Protests Over Gaza War

DON'T MISS

Trump Awarded 36 Million More Trump Media Shares Worth $1.8 Billion

DON'T MISS

Fresno Trustees Discuss Interim Superintendent Decision. When Will They Decide?

UP NEXT

The Latest | In Israel, Blinken Pushes Hamas to Agree on Gaza Cease-Fire Deal

UP NEXT

Here’s Why There’s Global Alarm Over Israel’s Rafah Offensive

UP NEXT

US Is Building a Pier off Gaza to Bring in Humanitarian Aid. Here’s How It Would Work.

UP NEXT

Netanyahu Promises to Enter Rafah Regardless of a Deal, Amid Ongoing Negotiations With Hamas

UP NEXT

Blinken Says Israel Must Still Do More to Boost Humanitarian Aid to Gaza

UP NEXT

US Announces New Patriot Missiles for Ukraine as Part of New $6 Billion Aid Package

UP NEXT

Egypt Sends Delegation to Israel, Its Latest Effort to Broker a Cease-Fire Between Israel and Hamas

UP NEXT

USC Scraps Graduation Ceremony Amid Concerns Over Potential Disruptions from Protests

UP NEXT

Lawyer Says Iran Rapper Famous for Songs After 2022 Killing of Mahsa Amini Sentenced to Death

UP NEXT

Hamas Official: We’ll Put Down Arms if an Independent Palestine Is Created

Duane Eddy, Twangy Guitar Hero of Early Rock, Dead at Age 86

10 hours ago

Fresno State’s Randa Jarrar Dragged Out of Event Featuring Big Bang Theory’s Mayim Bialik

10 hours ago

Trump Calls Judge ‘Crooked’ After Facing a Warning of Jail Time if He Violates a Trial Gag Order

10 hours ago

Federal Reserve Says Interest Rates Will Stay at Two-Decade High Until Inflation Further Cools

10 hours ago

House Passes Bill Expanding Antisemitism Definition Amid Campus Protests Over Gaza War

10 hours ago

Trump Awarded 36 Million More Trump Media Shares Worth $1.8 Billion

11 hours ago

Fresno Trustees Discuss Interim Superintendent Decision. When Will They Decide?

Local Education /

11 hours ago

Why Wheels on $10M Worth of Fresno Buses Don’t Go Round and Round

11 hours ago

Enough With the Excuses. Are You Part of the Problem With Fresno’s Public Education?

12 hours ago

New Battlegrounds Emerge in California’s Political Guerrilla War Over Housing

13 hours ago

Fresno State Shows the Nation How a Peaceful Palestinian Protest is Done

A peaceful pro-Palestinian sit-in at Fresno State on Wednesday lived up to its billing. “We want a cease-fire, and we just want a free...

8 hours ago

8 hours ago

Fresno State Shows the Nation How a Peaceful Palestinian Protest is Done

9 hours ago

Wired Wednesday: Digging Into Fresno’s Trash Hauling Fees

9 hours ago

Fresno State Announces 2024 Undergraduate Deans’ Medalists

10 hours ago

Duane Eddy, Twangy Guitar Hero of Early Rock, Dead at Age 86

10 hours ago

Fresno State’s Randa Jarrar Dragged Out of Event Featuring Big Bang Theory’s Mayim Bialik

10 hours ago

Trump Calls Judge ‘Crooked’ After Facing a Warning of Jail Time if He Violates a Trial Gag Order

10 hours ago

Federal Reserve Says Interest Rates Will Stay at Two-Decade High Until Inflation Further Cools

10 hours ago

House Passes Bill Expanding Antisemitism Definition Amid Campus Protests Over Gaza War

MENU

CONNECT WITH US

Search

Send this to a friend