The German government has authorized Poland to send Russian-made warplanes to Ukraine from the arsenals of the former German Democratic Republic (GDR), the magazine Der Spiegel and the newspaper Süddeutsche Zeitung reported on Thursday.
The decision comes in response to a request for permission from the Polish authorities, and the government of the Berlin coalition led by Chancellor Olaf Scholz gave permission today, although it has not yet officially confirmed it.
In 2002, Germany sold Poland 22 MiG-29 fighter jets from the GDR, and the contract stipulated that Warsaw had to ask permission from Berlin if it wanted to sell or give them away.
At the end of March, Jacek Siewera, the security adviser to Polish President Andrzej Duda, indicated that Poland still had a dozen of these aircraft.
According to the Süddeutsche Zeitung, the German government sees no problem in sending these Soviet devices to Ukraine.
However, these aircraft only fill a gap in the Ukrainian air force, there is no qualitative leap, which would only happen with the shipment of Western-made aircraft, according to government sources quoted by the German daily.
Although the decision has not yet been officially announced, some members of the governing coalition have already welcomed it.
“It is correct that the government did not delay the decision, but that it was taken on the same day that the Polish request was received,” said the defense specialist of the Liberal Party (FDP), Marcus Faber, in statements to the weekly magazine Der Spiegel.
The military offensive launched by Russia in Ukraine on February 24, 2022 has so far led to the flight of more than 14.6 million people – 6.5 million internally displaced persons and more than 8.1 million to European countries – according to the latest data from the UN, which classifies this refugee crisis as the worst in Europe since World War II (1939-1945).
At least 18 million Ukrainians currently need humanitarian aid and 9.3 million people need food aid and shelter.
The Russian invasion – justified by the Russian President, Vladimir Putin, with the need to “denazify” and demilitarize Ukraine for Russian security – was condemned by the international community at large, which responded by sending weapons to Ukraine and Russia political and economic sanctions.
The UN presented as confirmed since the start of the war, which today entered its 414th day, 8,490 civilians killed and 14,244 wounded, underlining that these numbers are far below the real ones.
Source: DN
