Poland hands over 1st batch of jet fighters to Ukraine

WARSAW

Poland has handed over a first batch of MiG-29 fighters to neighboring Ukraine to help fight off Russia’s offensive, a Polish official said on Monday.

“According to my information, the process of transferring the first batch of the Polish MiG-29s to Ukraine has already been completed,” Marcin Przydacz, head of the Polish president's International Policy Office, told radio RMF FM.

“During the visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Poland, there will certainly be talks about further support,” he added

President Andrzej Duda is due to talk with Zelenskyy this Wednesday about the next batch of MiG-29 fighters for Ukraine.

This is the first batch of post-Soviet MiG-29 fighters that have been withdrawn from the Polish Air Force and will eventually go to Ukraine.

Przydacz did not specify how many MiG-29 fighters are already in Ukraine.

Duda said on March 17 that four planes would be in the first batch. The next batch "are being serviced, prepared and will probably be handed over successively," President Andrzej Duda said.

A day later, Slovakia also announced its decision to transfer this type of aircraft to Ukraine. The Slovaks will deliver 13 of them, some of likely to be used for spare parts.

Poland will not hand over all its MiG-29s, with some continuing to be used by pilots from the 22nd Tactical Air Base in Malbork, northern Poland.

Ukrainian pilots reportedly know the jets very well, as the country has been using them for years.