Dhe Slovakia and Poland are the first and so far only countries that are supplying fighter jets to Ukraine to ward off the Russian invasion – and in some cases have already supplied them. The Slovak Air Force is even handing over all of its Soviet-made MiG-29 fighter jets to the neighboring country. Now, statements by Slovakia’s Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad’ make it clear why it was not difficult for his country to do without them.
“They were airworthy, but that doesn’t mean they were combat-ready,” Nad’ told Denník N newspaper about the state of the planes when they were decommissioned last August. On average, there was an error message every 42 minutes. Even before the agreement with Ukraine, it had been established that the aircraft were “unusable” for the Slovak armed forces.
Nad’ and Slovakia’s deputy chief of staff Ľubomír Svoboda have leveled allegations against the Russian mechanics who were involved in the maintenance of the planes in Slovakia until last year. “The defects that arose only affected the parts to which only Russian technicians had access. There was even a suspicion that sabotage was involved,” Nad’ said of an investigation, the result of which, however, was “inconclusive”. Svoboda also indirectly formulated the suspicion of sabotage to “Denník N”: “If I were a conspiracy theorist, I would even see an intention in it.” Anyone who is a little familiar with the area can calculate that it is not with such low availability of the aircraft possible to train new pilots.
When asked if the Ukrainians could handle the planes, Nad’ replied that they had pilots, spare parts and a company that had been repairing planes of this type since Soviet times. Ukrainian delegation members brought spare parts with them to the inspection in Slovakia. “They can help them prevent Russian missile attacks and save lives,” the minister said of the use of the planes for the Ukrainian army. In addition, when the delivery decision was made in March, it became known that three of the 13 machines were to be cannibalized.
Nevertheless, representatives of the Slovakian opposition accuse the government of weakening the country’s defense capability by giving up the planes. Long-serving Prime Minister Robert Fico, who refuses arms deliveries to Ukraine and wants to return to government with his Smer-SD party after the parliamentary elections in September, has filed a criminal complaint.