Four MiG-29 jets flew as the first parcel from Slovakia to Ukraine, it was said on Thursday from Bratislava. Such a transfer by air was previously considered extremely complicated.
A week after the governments of Poland and Slovakia announced that they would hand over multirole fighter jets of the Russian model Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-29 (NATO code: “Fulcrum”) to the Ukrainian Air Force, the first four apparently arrived in Ukraine : They come from the Second Ministry of Defense in Bratislava on Thursday, Slovakia and were flown across the border by Ukrainian pilots – “with the help of the Slovak Air Force and others”, he said cryptically.
“I would like to thank everyone involved for their fantastic work,” said Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad’.
The Slovaks’ remaining nine MiG-29s (all of which were decommissioned last year) are due to follow in a few weeks. Poland pledged its stock (total 28). The fact that officials now openly say that the MiGs flew into Ukraine is surprising, given fears in the West that Russia might view the flight of aircraft from NATO territory as a direct act of war. This is why rail transport was mentioned for the first time, although it is not clear if this is possible due to the size. The four MiGs were likely transferred at extremely low altitude and eluded Russian radar.
However, according to unconfirmed reports that have some credibility, these fighter jets may not be the first given to Ukraine in this war. Accordingly, four Sukhoi Su-25 “Frogfoot” ground attack aircraft somehow got there last summer – from stockpiles of the North Macedonian armed forces. Observers noticed that the four Frogfoots, which had been parked for many years for storage at an airfield near Skopje, had suddenly disappeared. Questions from the regional media where they were were never answered properly. Most importantly, there was no denial from the Ministry of Defense about whether the attack aircraft could have been “donated” to Ukraine.
Offensive announced in the Bachmut zone
On Thursday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy visited the southern region of Kherson, which was partially recaptured in the autumn. The day before, he was close to the hotly contested city of Bakhmut in the east. According to the Office of the President, the on-site talks in Kherson were about rebuilding towns, cities and infrastructure often damaged or even destroyed.
According to its own statements, Ukraine is preparing a major counterattack near Bakhmut because the Russians are exhausted, according to army chief General Oleksandr Syrskyj. Let’s seize the opportunity soon. It is questionable what to think of an announced offensive and whether this could not be an attempt to distract. Fighting around Bakhmut has subsided somewhat recently, there have been reports of minor Russian conquests there and further north near the town of Kreminna. (sg/ag.)