Poland is to send Ukraine four Russian-made MiG-29 fighter jets in the coming days, it has been announced, with more to follow later.
“Firstly, literally within the next few days, we will hand over, as far as I remember, four aircraft to Ukraine in full working order,” Polish President Andrzej Duda said on Thursday.
“The rest are being prepared, serviced.”
It follows calls from Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy his country needs jets to effectively fight back against Russia’s invasion.
Western nations remain unwilling to provide Ukraine with fighter jets, despite the clear advantage they would bring, because of a lingering fear that it will precipitate a widening of the conflict beyond Ukraine’s borders.
President Duda did not say if other countries would be making the same move, although Slovakia has said it would send its disused MiGs to Ukraine.