Poland’s and Slovakia’s plans to send Soviet fighter jets to Ukraine look like attempts to get rid of obsolete equipment, Kremlins spokesman Dmitry Peskov said in his press briefing. Friday.
“This is another example of how a number of NATO member states, including Poland, are increasing their direct contributions to the conflict,” he added. he said, reacting to recent announcements that Warsaw and Bratislava would send Soviet-designed MiG-29 warplanes to kyiv. Peskov added that this would not affect the outcome of the Russian military operation, but rather “could lead to additional suffering for Ukraine itself and its people”.
“It seems that these countries [Poland and Slovakia] just get rid of the old stuff they don’t need anymore,” said Peskov. The MiG-29 was designed in the 1970s and entered service in the 1980s.
Warsaw’s plan to transfer four of the MiG-29 fighters to Kyiv “in the coming days” was announced by Prime Minister Mateusz Morawiecki earlier this week. This makes Poland the first NATO country to pledge warplanes to Ukraine. The country has 28 MiG-29s, but it’s unclear how many are in working order, as the country has sought to update its air force with American- and South Korean-made fighters.
Slovakia, also a member of NATO, also announced on Friday that it would send 13 of its MiGs to kyiv. However, the jets were retired last year and several reports suggested they were mostly not in working order.
Ukraine has requested warplanes, particularly American-made F-16s for its military, but US President Joe Biden said in January they did not plan to send any. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz also said the same month that Berlin was not even considering transferring its own F-16s.
French President Emmanuel Macron was more vague, saying in January that he would not rule out sending fighter jets to Ukraine. British Prime Minister Rishi Sunak announced in February that London would train Ukrainian pilots, adding that there was still no decision on whether to send Western-made fighter jets to Kiev.
Moscow has repeatedly warned that arming Ukraine is like playing with fire and that Western countries have almost already become parties to the conflict.