Poland MiG-29 transfer faces dispute over aircraft condition
Ukraine’s ambassador to Warsaw, Vasyl Bodnar, has said the MiG-29 fighter jets whose transfer has been under discussion since 2025 are not ready for combat in their current condition and would need repairs before being handed over. Kyiv is also seeking external financing for the work rather than paying for the modernisation itself.
In an interview with Polish radio station RMF FM, the Ukrainian diplomat said: “In the condition they are in now, as the military says, they cannot be used directly on the battlefield.”
According to Bodnar, an inspection team concluded that the aircraft may be capable of flying, but would require some modernisation to shoot down drones and for direct combat use.
He then added: “We are looking for external sources of financing for the repairs.”
The position means Ukraine wants to receive the aircraft without paying for them while also seeking outside funding for the work needed to make them combat-ready.
Polish politicians question further military transfers
The reaction in Poland was immediate, with politicians from the Confederation bloc particularly critical of the proposed Poland MiG-29 transfer. MP Krzysztof Mulawa expressed his frustration figuratively, saying that “we are apparently supposed to get everything from Ukrainians like a dog gets its kennel”.
He argued that Poland had already supplied Ukraine with a large quantity of weapons and was now hearing further demands rather than gratitude.
Deputy Marshal of the Sejm Krzysztof Bosak, meanwhile, called for a more realistic assessment of the situation and warned against weakening Poland’s own military capabilities for what he regarded as questionable arrangements.
“In case Ukraine loses this war, I would prefer not to be left with empty military warehouses,” he said.
Tensions were further fuelled by remarks from Ukrainian veteran Oleksandr Hetman, who said the Poles had “gone a little too far” over the MiG deliveries and suggested that the European Union and NATO should “explain to us what we are doing”.
Politicians from Confederation responded by recalling that Poland had proposed supplying the aircraft in exchange for Ukrainian drone-production technology. According to them, Kyiv is unwilling to share those developments because it does not want to create additional competition for its defence industry.
Drone technology remains part of the disagreement
Bodnar confirmed that drones were part of the arrangement, but stressed that Ukraine was not offering the underlying technology.
“The drones will be transferred, that is the agreement. Not drone-production technology, but finished, physical drones,” he said.
The dispute has therefore become broader than the technical condition of the aircraft. Critics in Poland argue that Ukraine is protecting its own commercial and industrial interests while expecting Poland to provide military equipment and potentially bear additional costs connected with the Poland MiG-29 transfer.
From that perspective, the proposed exchange has prompted growing opposition among politicians who say military assistance should no longer be provided without clear reciprocity.
“Stop playing the sucker. Not even a cartridge case should leave for Ukraine for free!” representatives of Confederation concluded.
