Poland dismantled its MiG-29 fighters to meet Ukraine’s immediate military needs before the Russian onslaught, keeping the Americans in the dark. The book by Polish journalist Zbigniew Parafianowicz ‘Polska Na Wojnie’ (Poland at War) tracks the initial diplomacy and exchanges during Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine launched on February 24, 2022. Assessments of both Ukraine’s performance and Russian war plans also influenced decision-making.
Ukraine offered stiff resistance in the east, southeast, and south, with Russians making only slow progress. After February 24, it became clear that the Ukrainian government was not going anywhere and fighting. The need to send military aid to Ukraine arose after it was evident that the Ukrainian army and government were intact and would last longer in the war than expected.
The Poles planned to hand over the MiG-29 to Ukraine in a way that “would not put Poland in danger.” The Americans were “ambiguous” on this issue, pointed out to Zelensky, who had since been in touch with Poland, Andrzej Duda, US President Joe Biden, Germany, France, and the Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. The jets being seen as a direct participation in the war by the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member country could make it a legitimate target, leading to a direct collision between the US, Europe, and Russia, leading to what military experts call World War 3.
In May, the Poles disassembled ten MiG-29 planes and placed them in the forests bordering Ukraine. The Polish military believed that the MiGs “would never fly after reassembly,” but the Ukrainians managed, and the planes were in service.
The US presumably learned of the MiG-29 transfer and expressed displeasure during Vice President Kamala Harris’s visit to Poland on March 10. Western officials officially opposed the Polish plan to transfer the MiGs via Ramstein, leading to a “rift” in the NATO alliance. The MiG-29s were used extensively by Ukraine, particularly after engineers modified them to fire the AGM-88 High-Speed Anti-Radiation Missile (HARM) on Russian air defence radars.
