Poland will provide Ukraine with MiG-29 fighters in exchange for Ukrainian drones and missile technology

Poland is ready to provide Ukraine with obsolete MiG-29 fighters in exchange for its drone and missile technology.

According to a report by China Youth Daily on December 12, Poland, as a NATO member and Eastern European military power close to Ukraine, is ready to hand over more stockpiles of weapons to Ukraine, including the latter's much-needed MiG-29 fighter jets. As a result, the Polish Air Force will also bid farewell to these "Cold War legacies" once and for all.

On December 10, local time, the General Staff of the Polish Armed Forces said through the social platform "X" that negotiations to hand over the last batch of MiG-29s to Ukraine were underway in exchange for Ukraine's drone and missile technology.

Currently, the Polish Air Force has 14 MiG-29s left, including 11 single-seat and 3 two-seat. After the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Poland became the first country to provide fighter jets to Ukraine, and successively handed over 14 MiG-29s to Ukraine. These MiG-29s were modified with NATO technical assistance to launch ground attack munitions such as AGM-88 anti-radiation missiles and glide guided bombs.

Before the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, the MiG-29 was one of the main fighters of the Ukrainian Air Force, with more than 40 equipment, but most of it was lost in the conflict.

It is worth mentioning that according to RIA Novosti, the Russian Ministry of Defense said on the 9th that the Russian army shot down a Su-27 fighter of the Ukrainian Air Force when briefing on the special military operation against Ukraine. According to Ukraine's "Kiev Independent", the Ukrainian Air Force issued a statement on the 8th saying that a Ukrainian Su-27 fighter jet had an accident while performing a mission that day, and the pilot died. The situation is under investigation.

Ukraine has developed several types of long-range suicide drones during the conflict, and has short-range ballistic missiles and long-range cruise missile technology. On December 9, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky confirmed for the first time that the Ukrainian Armed Forces had begun using domestically produced Peregrine Ballistic missiles in combat operations, marking Ukraine's official entry into the ranks of the few countries capable of producing and deploying ballistic weapons independently. Previously, Ukraine announced the Flamingo cruise missile with a range of 3,000 kilometers.

Russian officials said on December 11 that Ukraine launched airstrikes on Russia, and Russia shot down nearly 300 Ukrainian drones overnight. This is one of the largest attacks launched by Ukraine against Russia since the outbreak of the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, and the airstrike forced the temporary closure of the airport in Moscow, the capital of Russia. The Russian Ministry of Defense said that of the 287 drones intercepted and shot down by the Russian air defense system, 32 drones flew in the direction of Moscow.