Is Ukraine disassembling fighter jets sent by Slovakia and Poland to use spare parts?

Russia launched "a special military operation" in Ukraine last year in February and the conflict kept escalating ever since. Ukraine lobbied the allies for military aid, especially long-range missiles, advanced fighter jets and battle tanks. The Western nations balked for some time over fears of direct conflict with Russia, but eventually, they agreed to provide them to some extent, to help Kyiv against Moscow's aggression. The allies have provided a mix of cutting-edge, as well as, older technology to create multi-layered defences for the war-torn nation.

Now the latest report suggests that Ukraine has been disassembling many fighter jets it received from European nations such as Slovakia and Poland. Sputnik, cited a report published by a British weekly newspaper, The Economist, which suggested that a large part of the MiG-29 fighter jets that Poland and Slovakia sent to Ukraine can be of use only if disassembled for spare parts. They were recently handed over to Ukraine and apparently were not in flyable condition. In recent weeks, Poland and Slovakia transferred about eight MiG-29s.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky urged the allies to supply fighter jets as soon as possible, but the EU and the United States remained mum. Earlier this month, Ukrainian Air Force Command spokesman Yuriy Ignat said that Ukraine would like to get F-16 fighters as the supply of other Western aircraft could take more time.

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Ukraine's military capacity

The recent leaks of secret documents from the Pentagon raised questions over Ukraine's military capacity and its ability to make significant gains in an upcoming counteroffensive. The documents also raised doubts over Kyiv's capacity to keep defending against Russian strikes.

The top secret document seen by news agencies and several media outlets said that tough Russian defences and "enduring Ukrainian deficiencies in training and munitions supplies probably will strain progress and exacerbate casualties during the offensive".

The document labelled "top secret", detailed the poor condition of Ukrainian air defences. It is a vital cog of Ukraine's military at this moment as it helps in protecting against Russian strikes and preventing Moscow's forces from gaining control of the skies.

The document state that around 89 per cent of Ukrainian medium and high-range air defences was made up of SA-10 and SA-11 Soviet-era systems that could soon run short of ammunition. The authenticity of which could not immediately be confirmed.

The document projected that Ukraine's SA-11s would be out of missiles by late March, and its SA-10s by early May, based on the estimation of munitions use at the time.

Disclaimer: A number of claims and counterclaims are being made on the Ukraine-Russia conflict on the ground and online. While WION takes utmost care to accurately report this developing news story, we cannot independently verify the authenticity of all statements, photos and videos.

(With inputs from agencies)

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