Ukraine agreed to transfer anti-drone technology to Poland in exchange for two MiG-29 fighters

Poland may transfer two MiG-29 fighters to Ukraine in exchange for access to Ukrainian technologies in the field of drones and counter-drones.

This was stated by Deputy Minister of Defense of Poland Cezary Tomczyk, who is on a visit to Kyiv, RMF24 reports.

According to him, the parties are now "at the stage of agreeing on details".

Representatives of Ukraine and Poland also discussed deepening cooperation within the "Anti-Ballistic Missile Coalition", which is working to develop capabilities to intercept ballistic missiles. It includes 11 countries: Ukraine, Poland, the United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Norway, Denmark and the Netherlands.

What preceded

In December 2025, Poland began talking about transferring MiGs to Ukraine. President Volodymyr Zelensky then noted that Ukraine needed MiG-29 aircraft, as Ukrainian pilots already had experience flying them and “the issue is not a shortage of aircraft, but a shortage of pilots”.

The Polish General Staff noted that these aircraft will be decommissioned and replaced with F-16 and FA-50 fighters. Deputy Minister of Defense of Poland Cezary Tomczyk said on December 14 that this is about 6-8 aircraft out of 14 available in Poland.

In February 2026, Polish Prime Minister Donald Tusk reported a new, 48th aid package for Ukraine. It included MiG-29 fighter jets.

However, in May, relations between the countries deteriorated sharply after Zelensky signed a decree awarding the Separate Special Operations Center "North" of the Special Operations Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine the honorary title "named after the Heroes of UPA".

In June, Poland’s Deputy Defense Minister Pawel Zalewski said that Ukraine was not interested in receiving MiG-29s from the country. Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said that he had offered Ukraine “MiGs in exchange for drones”, but then Kyiv allegedly refused to share the technology. After that, Poland decided to write off the fighters that were planned to be transferred to Ukraine.

However, in July, Poland reported that it had resumed negotiations with Ukraine on the transfer of the MiG-29s.

For more news and in-depth stories from Ukraine, please follow us on X.