Polish MiG-29s, which Ukraine expects to receive, have been requested by unnamed NATO country
Poland has received an enquiry from an unnamed NATO member state regarding the MiG-29 fighter jets that Warsaw plans to transfer to Ukraine.
This was stated by Poland’s Deputy Minister of National Defence, Paweł Zalewski, in an interview with Radio ZET, according to Censor.NET.
Competition for the MiG-29s
Zalewski made it clear that Poland would not renege on its commitments to Kyiv.
"Despite the request from our NATO ally, the transfer of these fighter jets to Ukraine remains a priority for Poland," he said.
A spokesperson for the Polish Ministry of Defence declined to answer the question of whether Bulgaria had initiated the request.
Context
According to the specialist publication "Military", there are currently only two countries within the North Atlantic Alliance that still operate MiG-29 fighter jets — Poland and Bulgaria.
The difficult situation with Sofia’s air fleet is due to delays in the delivery of American fighter jets. Although Bulgaria is gradually replacing its Soviet-era aircraft with modern F-16Vs, the country has so far received only the first batch of aircraft. Deliveries of the second tranche of F-16Vs are not expected to be completed until 2027, which is why Sofia is acutely feeling a shortage of combat aircraft to patrol its own airspace.
According to available data, Bulgaria has 16 MiG-29 fighter jets, but only six of them are in working order. Due to European Union sanctions against Russia, the country can no longer obtain spare parts for these aircraft from Russia.
The transfer of Polish MiGs to Ukraine
- In December 2025, the Polish Ministry of National Defence and the General Staff announced their intention to transfer to Ukraine some of the MiG-29s that remained in service with the Polish Air Force.
- These fighter jets have been in service in Poland since 1989. They are currently being gradually replaced by more modern aircraft, but they are still carrying out combat missions.
- Earlier, President Volodymyr Zelenskyy stated that Poland was refusing to transfer the MiG-29s, even though Ukraine had agreed with NATO to send Alliance aircraft to Poland in exchange.
- Later, the country’s Foreign Ministry responded that Poland would transfer its MiG-29s to Ukraine once it had received replacements from its allies.
- Polish President Karol Nawrocki believes that the country could exchange the MiGs for anti-drone technology for Ukraine.
- Poland’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of National Defence, Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz, stated that Warsaw had offered Kyiv a "very cooperative approach" — an exchange of MiG-29s for drone technology. According to him, Ukraine initially agreed to this proposal but subsequently refused to honour the agreements reached. He also suggested that the breakdown of the deal had political underpinnings and was linked, in particular, to the escalation of Polish-Ukrainian disputes over historical issues.
