Slovakia has completed the delivery of 13 promised MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine, the Slovak Defense Minister announced Monday.
“All thirteen Slovak MiG-29s have been safely handed over to the Ukrainian Air Force,” Minister Jaroslav Nad said on Twitter.
Last Monday, the Ukrainian authorities demanded the shipment of US F-16 fighter jets, more modern than the MiG-29, described as obsolete by kyiv.
“We need to protect the country from air terrorism. We need F-16s to cover the front line and gain air superiority,” said Ukrainian Armed Forces air force spokesman Yuri Ignat.
“They are needed, among other things, to protect Ukraine’s critical infrastructure targets, including seven nuclear power plants,” it added.
Ignat lamented that current MiG-29s are not capable of effectively shooting down cruise missiles and drones, despite the fact that Ukrainian pilots “squeeze everything they can” out of these fighters.
The delivery of 13 MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine was announced by Slovak Prime Minister Eduard Heger on March 17.
The first four Slovak fighters were delivered the following week. Russia’s invasion of Ukraine triggered a war that plunged Europe into what is considered the most serious security crisis since World War II (1939-1945).
Source: TSF
