MARCH 17: Polish President Andrzej Duda said they would be sent in the coming days and others would be delivered in the future.
Although a welcome boost for Ukraine’s air defense, the additional aircraft are not expected to be decisive in the war.
Deputy Speaker of Ukraine’s Parliament Olena Kondratyuk said she hoped more countries would follow her.
Other NATO countries are considering sending Soviet-era planes, which Ukrainian pilots are trained to fly.
Ukraine has previously asked Western countries for modern fighter jets, such as the F-16.
The UK is training Ukrainian pilots on standard NATO aircraft. But due to long training times, he warned that supplying Western aircraft would only be a long-term option.
President Biden previously ruled out sending US planes to Ukraine.
At the start of the full-scale invasion of Russia, Ukraine was believed to have around 120 combat-capable aircraft, mainly aging Mig-29s and Su-27s.
President Duda said that Poland still had about a dozen Soviet-era Mig 29 jets in operation.
Ukrainian MP Kira Rudik told the BBC: “We need them to strengthen our air defense systems and help our army in the spring counter-offensive.”
“It’s also a good sign to everyone that bringing fighter jets into Ukraine is not something indescribable or surreal, that this is something that can happen, that all it takes to make it happen is political will.”
Yuriy Sak, an adviser to Ukraine’s defense minister, told the BBC that the Polish planes would be used “very efficiently by our air force.”
He said that in the past 24 hours, the existing Ukrainian air force had carried out 16 airstrikes against Russian personnel and equipment. But he stressed that Ukraine wanted “fourth generation” aircraft, such as the F-16s.
“They are more universal platforms, they are more capable and of course they will make the Ukrainian air forces more efficient,” he said.
Poland is a strong ally of Ukraine, one of the largest suppliers of military equipment. It is currently replacing its old Soviet-era planes with newer American and Korean models.
