The difficulties of arranging the secret transfer of MiG-29 aircraft and the supply of other weapons to Ukraine are described in detail in the book “Polska na Wojnie” (Poland at War) by Zbigniew Parafianowicz, with excerpts published by NV.
Following Russia’s large-scale invasion of Ukraine, Polish President Andrzej Duda announced at the closed-door NATO meeting that his country was ready to establish a logistics base for the transfer of military equipment to Ukraine. This commitment was reiterated at the Bucharest Nine meeting, which unites Central European countries in the field of security.
EU diplomacy head Josep Borrell later echoed this message and introduced the concept of Poland as a logistics hub into international discourse.
Journalist Zbigniew Parafianowicz discusses this in his book “Polska na Wojnie” (Poland at War), excerpts of which were published by NV.
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The chosen center for the transfer of weapons to the Ukrainian side was Żeszów.
A person from Duda’s close circle says, “The Americans asked us to determine the place where such a center would be established.”
“Lublin was undoubtedly being taken into consideration. The President stated that there should be a city where Americans are present. The point was clear: The center would be where the 82nd American Airborne Division was based. The Russians know not to shoot at Americans. “The debate has been effectively closed.”
“It was necessary to make it clear that Poland’s security was the first priority. That’s why Żeszów was chosen. “We did not want Russian missiles to fall near Lublin.”
The Polish leadership planned to transfer MiG-29 aircraft to Ukraine, but aimed to do this in the safest way for Poland. Polish officials acted cautiously, not wanting to expose their country to danger, as it was difficult to predict Russia’s reaction and capabilities at that time.
“Americans even poked Zelenskyy. He called Duda and expressed his frustration with his reluctance to hand over the equipment,” the book reads.
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“’Andrzej, why are you treating me like this?’ asked. “He said the situation was critical and he needed machines as soon as possible.”
At the same time, Polish Deputy Prime Minister Jarosław Kaczyński proposed the transfer of the aircraft during a meeting in the Ramstein format.
“In our statement to NATO countries, especially the Americans, we were told that we are ready to deliver these MiGs at any time,” said a source close to the Polish President.
“Our pilots are transporting them to Ramstein (a city in Germany with a US air base, where on April 26, 2022 the first meeting of defense ministers of various countries on the war against Ukraine took place).”
“We don’t care who sits in these MiGs, who will be at the controls and where they will fly. This is not our job. We do not know whether these will be Ukrainian or Paraguayan citizens. “We don’t know anything.”
“But the Americans started to bother us. They asked what game we were playing. We also asked what game they were playing. If they don’t like our idea, how do we understand their position? Does the base in Ramstein have a different NATO category than Żeszów or Lublin? Does Germany have more protection than Poland? “They didn’t answer anything.”
The White House strongly criticized Poland’s attempt to transfer the aircraft to Ramstein. Citing sources, Parafianowicz says that the United States began to put the blame and responsibility on Warsaw after Zelenskyy stated that Ukraine did not have time for such discussions.
However, Duda’s team had its own plan for transferring the plane. The Poles decided to disassemble about a dozen MiGs and leave them in various parts of the forest along the state border for the Ukrainians to retrieve. And so it happened.
“The Americans asked if (the planes) could be put back together,” recalls one Polish minister. “I said I thought it was possible. Sullivan asked how and where they (the Ukrainians) collected them. ‘In the woods’ I replied. As it turned out later, I wasn’t lying at all. Planes took off from highways. “They adapted their highways to the standard of takeoff and landing strips with compartments for fighters.”
As stated in the book, such roads that can serve as takeoff and landing runways exist at least in Kiev and Odessa oblasts.
“Our military says it is impossible to reassemble these planes after disassembling them,” adds a senior Polish official. “But it turned out that the Ukrainians could do this. There are no limits for them. They are so creative!”
Parafianowicz’s sources also state that the importance of this operation is not only that the Ukrainians seized the planes.
“There weren’t many of these MiGs, not many of them,” says one Polish minister. “But the confusion was significant. In addition to rearming Zelenskyy, we were also improving relations with the Americans. Talking style. “It cannot be ignored that this is even more important than the machines themselves.”
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Read the original article on Ukraine’s New Voice