Slovakia has joined Poland in making an official decision to provide Ukraine with Soviet-era
MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter jets, the two NATO members becoming the first countries to commit to delivering tactical jets to Kyiv since Russia launched its full-scale invasion. Slovakia ceased flying its MiG-29s last summer and the possibility of transferring these jets to Ukraine had been raised previously, but
the earlier plan had collapsed amid U.S. pressure.
“Today, the government decided and unanimously approved an international agreement [on the donation of MiG-29s],” Slovakian Prime Minister Eduard Heger
said. “The process of handing over these fighter jets is closely coordinated with the Polish side, with Ukraine and, of course, with other allies,” he added.
That last point indicates that Slovakia is now part of the coalition of countries that Poland suggested should work together to transfer MiG-29s to Ukraine from their respective stocks. A third NATO member, Bulgaria, also has stocks of the Soviet-era jets that could potentially be sent to Ukraine, although so far it’s not understood to have joined the coalition.
Taking to Twitter, Heger confirmed that the Slovakian government has approved the transfer of 13 MiG-29s to Ukraine. When the last Slovakian Fulcrums were retired, it was widely reported that the final fleet comprised around 11 operational jets — a mix of moderately upgraded MiG-29AS single-seaters and MiG-29UBS two-seaters. Currently, there is no delivery timeframe for the Slovakian jets, although unconfirmed reports suggest they could begin to arrive in the next few weeks.
Today’s announcement follows a previous statement from Slovakian Minister of Defense Jaroslav Nad, in which he confirmed that his Polish counterpart had told him at a recent European Union meeting that Warsaw would agree to a joint process to transfer MiG-29s to Ukraine.
Until their withdrawal, Slovakia’s MiG-29s were the country’s primary air defense fighters. Ten of them had been inherited from the former Czechoslovak Air Force when Czechoslovakia split into two sovereign states in December 1992. Subsequently, another 14 MiG-29s were received from Russia in two batches in the mid-1990s. At least three were lost in accidents, while others were put in museums.