Poland refused to hand over MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine after Kyiv failed to share its drone technology with Warsaw, Polish Defense Minister Władysław Kosiniak-Kamysz said.
The two countries had an agreement under which Ukraine would share its battlefield drone experience with Poland in exchange for the MiG jets, the minister said, describing it as a symbolic but very important gesture. Ukraine initially agreed, then backed out, Kosiniak-Kamysz said. “There will be no MiGs for Ukraine because there are no drones — or rather, no drone capabilities — for Poland,” he added.
In the same interview, Kosiniak-Kamysz addressed the controversy over a Ukrainian military unit being named after the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, saying that Ukraine “will not join the European Union with Bandera” and that “those who undermine European cooperation cannot be included in the pantheon of national heroes.”
Poland’s General Staff reported in December 2025 that Ukraine and Poland were in talks about transferring six to eight MiG-29 fighter jets that Poland had planned to retire from service.
Relations between Ukraine and Poland deteriorated after Volodymyr Zelensky awarded one of Ukraine’s military units the honorary title “Heroes of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army” in May. The decision drew sharp criticism in Poland because of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army’s role in the Volhynian massacre of 1943–1944.
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