Summary Poland considering donating remaining MiG-29s to Ukraine to boost air force capability Need for Western air defense systems for Ukraine, focus on protecting airspace and new arrivals Long-term goal for Ukraine is Western fighter jets; limited F-16s already there, Mirage 2000-5s to come Poland has been one of the strongest Ukrainian backers and has already donated half its legacy MiG-29 Fulcrum fleet . It is now possible that Poland will soon donate its remaining 15 or so MiG-29s to Ukraine. The first F-16s are now flying in Ukraine , but it will be a long time before Ukraine is able to transition fully from Soviet jets.
According to Forbes , this has the potential to bring Ukraine's MiG-29 fleet back up to full strength. This is a remarkable achievement and further underscores how badly Russia's 2.5-year-long invasion has backfired.
Poland open to donating remaining MiG-29s Polish MiGs were discussed in a recent meeting between Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelansky and Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk. Donald Tusk stated, “ We cannot simply hand over the MiGs immediately because they are currently performing air policing duties .” A Forbes article notes that it shouldn't be an issue for NATO countries to provide more fighter cover for Poland to cover the gap until the new jets arrive.
Poland is believed to have around 15 MiG-29s left in use. While it takes many months for Ukrainian pilots and maintainers to be trained and new logistics networks to be set up for .