Polish MiG-29 and a Gripen with Meteor missiles in the background
Photo. Dowództwo Generalne RSZ
During the December visit of Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky to Poland, the issue of possible donation of MiG-29 fighter aircraft to Ukraine was mentioned. Despite the initial disagreement between Polish President and MoD, it seems that the donation will be possible.
Should that happen, Poland can become „both first and last” donator of fighter aircraft to Ukraine. One should remember that back in 2022, the issue of possible donation of MiG-29s to Kyiv was discussed. Initially, Poland wanted to receive used F-16 from the United States as a replacement for the donation of MiGs, though the Biden administration declined to provide the aircraft.
While Poland initially did not formally donate the complete aircraft, Warsaw did provide a very substantial package of spare parts and weapons. In the 2nd half of 2022, after Warsaw bought FA-50 and FA-50PL light combat aircraft from Republic of Korea, donation of MiG-29s became closer. And it did finalize in the first half 2023, in cooperation with Slovakia, led by president Zuzanna Caputova.
Going forward to between 2025 and 2026, it can safely be stated that Polish-Slovakian donation of MiG-29s to Ukraine was a significant step for the entire Kyiv defensive effort. Not only did it refill the aircraft stocks, but also paved the way for donation of Western aircraft (F-16s, first in 2nd half of 2024 and Mirage 2000s, first in the 1st half of 2025).
Today, fighter aircraft are critical for Ukraine in many aspects. As Russian Federation has been improving its performance in air domain, both with massive use of drones and precision conventional munitions (glide bombs, cruise missiles), aircraft are used for supporting the defence of critical infrastructure. In addition to that, they conduct limited but still important ground strikes, including with the use of guided bombs such as JDAM-ER and SDB, which have also been integrated on the aircraft of Soviet origin, such as MiG-29 and Su-27s. Looking long term, Ukraine is also set to receive some Gripen aircraft and French Rafale.
In addition to that, as President Zelensky stated during his visit to Poland, while Kyiv is receiving Western aircraft like F-16, pilot training takes certain time while MiG-29s can be integrated into the defence of Ukraine easily. It is important to note that after the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces and the MoD revealed the fact that negotiations with Ukraine on the provision of MiG-29s – in exchange for certain drone and counter-drone technologies – are ongoing, the President of Poland Karol Nawrocki and the representatives of the Chancellery as well as National Security Bureau initially complained that they had not been informed on the possibility of donation.
This time, however, a Polish-Polish dispute between the MoD and President seems to have been quickly solved as during the visit of Volodymyr Zelensky in Poland Karol Nawrocki confirmed that MiG-29 can be provided to Ukraine. It may seems that higher security interest overruled the political dispute, at least in the area of provision of MiG-29s. As FA-50s gain operational readiness (though the deliveries of more modern FA-50PL are delayed), and Poland is to receive first F-35, donation of last MiG-29s becomes more feasible also from the Polish Air Force point of view, particularly as the aircraft are nearing end of the regular service lives.
So, almost four years in the full scale war, Kyiv still needs MiG-29s and it seems that Poland is able and willing to provide them. Will Poland be donating aircraft to Kyiv as „first and last”? This time, unlike the really massive donations from 2022-2023 (including, over 300 Main Battle Tanks, hundreds of APCs and IFVs, over a hundred of artillery systems, modern Piorun MANPADS provided in 2022, Mi-24 helicopters and tens of millions of munitions), Poland will expect a compensation in the form of technologies from Ukrainian defence industry.
This also shows the changing character of the war where Ukraine has been becoming more and more of a leading producer of certain types equipment (which hardly has been the case back in first half of 2022, when hundreds of T-72s went to Ukraine to support first counteroffensives). Provision of technology could also be beneficial to Ukraine, as Kyiv would benefit from an expanded manufacturing base. So, hopefully Ukraine will receive the MiG-29s, and Poland will receive the Ukrainian technologies.