Status: 04/13/2023 2:28 p.m
Poland had already delivered MiG fighter jets to Ukraine in March. Now the machines once received from Germany are to follow. According to Minister Pistorius, the federal government wants to decide on this today.
Poland has applied to the German government for approval to deliver more fighter jets to Ukraine. Germany’s approval is necessary because these are machines from old stocks of the German Air Force.
The Federal Ministry of Defense confirmed that a corresponding application for the delivery of MiG-29 fighter jets had been received from Poland. The MiG-29 is an interceptor and the only fighter aircraft that was adopted by the Luftwaffe of the Federal Republic from the stocks of the National People’s Army of the GDR after German reunification. In 2002, Germany had sold 23 MiG-29 fighter jets to Poland.
“Ukraine to receive Poland’s entire MiG fleet”
The Polish government had already announced in mid-March that it was preparing to deliver the first MiG jets to Ukraine. Eight machines of the type have since been sent to Ukraine. At the beginning of April, President Andrzej Duda extended the commitment: his country wanted to make “its entire MiG fleet” of around 30 aircraft available to Ukraine. Including the machines received from Germany.
Federal Defense Minister Boris Pistorius promised a speedy decision on the possible delivery of fighter jets by Poland. The federal government wants to discuss this later in the day, said the SPD politician during a visit to West African Mali.
The Ukrainian government under President Volodymyr Zelenskyj has been pushing for weeks for more comprehensive military aid from the West, with priority being given to the delivery of fighter jets for the country’s troops.