Poland will become the first NATO member to supply Ukraine with fighter jets as Polish President Andrzej Duda said Thursday that his country plans to give Kyiv four Soviet-made MiG-29 fighter jets in the coming days.
“In the coming days, we are handing over four aircraft to Ukraine in full working order,” Duda said at a press conference. Ukrainian pilots are trained to use the MiG-29, so the Polish planes can be used in battle once they arrive. Duda said Poland will send more MiG-29s after the first four are delivered.
Last year, in March 2022, Poland offered to give MiG-29s to the US to transfer them to Ukraine, but the Pentagon declined, citing concerns of escalation. NATO diplomats said at the time that Russia could perceive the move as the alliance directly entering the war.
But now, the US and its NATO allies are less concerned about escalation, and Poland’s move could inspire other alliance members to provide Ukraine with aircraft. Poland led the charge to give Kyiv German-made Leopard tanks.
According to The Wall Street Journal, Ukraine’s MiG-29s are already armed with NATO equipment, including AGM-88 High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missiles, or HARMs, which have a range of about 50 miles. Ukraine’s MiGs are also firing US-provided Joint Direct Attack Munition-Extended Range (JDAM-ER), precision-guided bombs that can hit targets up to 45 miles away.
Duda said he was open to providing Kyiv with American-made F-16s, which would require extensive training for Ukrainian pilots. The US is already laying the groundwork for the training as at least two Ukrainian pilots have arrived in the US to assess their skills.
This is how it starts…
It is said to see the state of Poland, that the hatred is this bad. I spent a summer there making a lot of good and regretful memories. Most of the people I met though were incredibly friendly. How is it that their government is so gun-ho taking any opportunity to stir up more conflict with Russians? They already have independence.
It’s almost like the Poles know exactly what the Russians are capable of.
Right. So becoming more belligerent is the solution. One atrocity justifies the next. Round and round it goes…
Stop escalating the war and start the peace talks!
Decent people would have started peace talks a long time ago. Biden did say, NO NEGOTIANS WITH PUTIN, Zelensky made it the law of the land.
The goal of the war is regime change and to weaken Russia, he and Austin have said it. The editors of the NYT and WP and TV networks know it, and they kept manipulating public opinion to support it.
Putin isn`t going any where , TBH the West should count it`s self lucky having Putin in charge there are Russian Military Hawks who will flatten Ukraine given the chance , its a classic case of be care full what you wish for , it is said the SAS could have taken out the IRA top command in one fell swoop , when Thatcher was asked for the go ahead she said NO better the devils we know than the ones we don`t .
The Russian MOD is fighting a very successful war of attrition disarming NATO (Ukraine was disarmed in March), tank by tank, artillery by artillery, air defense by air defense.
NATO overall has accumulated the following equipment losses;
402 Aircraft, 221 helicopters, 3434 UAV’s, 414 Anti Aircraft systems, 8316 tanks inc. APC’s, 1062 multiple rocket launchers, 4372 rocket launchers and 8959 military automotive equipment.
What the empire looses in the Ukraine, they loose for the final Russian attack on NATO. Remember Russia attacked Ukraine just as NATO was about to unleash in the Donbass. Russia has shown they will pre-emptively attack to defend the Motherland when the time is dictated by events on the ground.
An excellent way for Russia to test their air defenses for future wars.
Too bad Duda has ruined my favorite song forever: https://youtu.be/BW0E1k0XyFY
Fighter jets come with auto pilot for takeoff auto pilot for flight and ejection seat for landing. Poland and ilk are insane.
The Polish MiG-29s have 30% less thrust then Russian MiG-29s. I guess to avoid an escalation these jet will have to be towed across the boarder.
The Su-57 will make cannon fodder of these old airframes.
They do have the Russian Phoenix missile. Operational
range 150–398 km
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/R-37_(missile)
Is this a posturing? or is Warsaw suicidal?
Poland and other NATO members do nothing without our approval.
How are the jets being delivered? If they take off from Poland and land in Ukraine, Poland becomes a direct party to the war. Even if they reach Ukraine, they’ll likely be destroyed a) before they reach their destination, b) on the ground where they arrive, or c) in the air by Russian air defense. 4 outdated fighter jets that require extensive maintenance and repair will do absolutely nothing to contribue to the Ukranian war effort.
But that is what Biden wants, he is determined to get NATO to fight against Russia for American interests, he can then throw NATO and the EU UNDER THE BUS, while the Taiwanese, S. Korea and Japan fight China for American interests, while the USA sells all the guns they need to kill each other. And after that, good old JOE can rule the world.
Maybe that is how the deranged minds around Joe function.
Deranged minds swirling around an empty one. Might compete for black hole status in the political spaces.
The European NATO allies should make it clear to the Poles, if they want war with Russia they are on their own with no NATO support. UK and USA and the Baltic states are free to support them, if they think they can trust UK and USA and the others.
The majority of the rest are not at all against what the Poles are doing – as the article indeed says:
The notion that this is the Poles going it alone or doing what they propose doing at the behest of the US against European allies interests is just not borne out by any available evidence.
If Biden, Nuland, Blinken, and Sullivan and the members of congress had a shred of decency they would stop the slaughter in Ukraine. They throw untrained teenage boys in the meatgrinder around Bakhmut knowing full well that there is no chance to win, only negotiating will end the slaughter. That is the real genocide Zelensky gets paid for and makes our president and his whole administration war criminals.
Have they no decency, no conscience?
Of course not! They are special, chosen, exceptional! Biden is fighting against evil, cosmic battle betwern darkness and light! Ukraine is merely a sacrificial lamb, Poland may be next volunteer in this “let Slavs kill each other” schema. Why stop?
Alexander Mercouris says in his video today on the Ukraine war, that he was going to quote an article from the Daily Telegraph about Russia being about to cut the last road the Ukrainians have into Bakhmut.
BUT, while he updated the page, the Daily Telegraph deleted it. And instead they had an intelligence update saying that “Russia continues to advance but their advance has slowed”.
No one hates like the Polish. To me their entire government is a massive exercise in irony and self-deprecation.
The RF pilots are placing bets on whom will be the first to take out an F16 stating it will be interesting to see how well they burn. The RF tank operators are becoming bored and are complaining that the long overdue Abrams and Leopard tanks are taking their time.
The Ukro forces now comprise a majority of Polish and a mix of German, Canadian, US and French mercenaries. All of the big cities are emptied of civilians, many of the male population between 18-50 have fled to escape the forced conscriptions.
Bakhmut is essentially in an operational encirclement and the Ukro’s lost two large military groupings while attempting to flee the town. The settlements of Paraskoveyevka, Berkhovka, Yagodnoe, and Dubovo-Vasilyevo are liberated. The last road through Khromovo will soon be taken by the RF resulting in the blockade of the Bakhmut garrison.
In the north of Bakhmut near Mikhailovka the RF took out approx. 100 Ukro’s and 10 pieces of military equipment. Using laser guided long range missiles a Marder echelon was destroyed. The Marders’ freeze easily and are very difficult to start in the winter conditions.