MiG-29 fighter planes are coming
Slovakia sends 13 fighter jets to Ukraine
03/17/2023 10:44 am
After Poland wants to be the first country to provide fighter jets to Ukraine, Slovakia is following suit. His country Kiev wants to send 13 MiG fighter jets, Prime Minister Heger announced on Twitter. When the fighter planes will be handed over is not clear.
After Poland on Thursday, Slovakia also announced the delivery of fighter jets to Ukraine. This was announced by Prime Minister Eduard Heger on Twitter. Accordingly, his country will hand over 13 MiG-29 aircraft. However, he did not specify a time for this.
The Kremlin criticized the fighter jet deliveries to Ukraine announced by Poland and Slovakia as an escalation. “It goes without saying that this technology is subject to destruction as part of the military special operation,” Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said, according to the Interfax news agency. In his view, the fighter jets could not change the course of the war. They would only bring additional hardship to Ukraine and the Ukrainian people, the 55-year-old said. “This is just one more example of how a number of NATO member countries are increasing their direct involvement in the conflict,” Peskov commented on announcements about the planned arms deliveries.
Poland is also sending four fighter jets to Ukraine
After a meeting with his Czech counterpart Petr Pavel, Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Thursday: “In the coming days we will (…) transfer four fully operational aircraft to Ukraine.” The country’s leadership made a corresponding decision and the government then passed a resolution.
Last week, Duda said his country wanted to hand over the MiG-29 to Ukraine as part of an international coalition. Which countries should belong to this possible coalition remained open. However, Slovakia was named as a likely partner.
Ukraine has been demanding warplanes from its western partners for weeks in order to be able to defend itself against an expected Russian offensive. US President Joe Biden rejected a delivery of F-16 fighter jets to Ukraine at the end of January. Chancellor Olaf Scholz also repeatedly rejected the delivery of western combat aircraft.