Defense Minister of Slovakia: Russians may have damaged the MiG-29s to be handed over to Ukraine

Russian technicians, who have until recently serviced the MiG-29 fighter jets of the Slovak Air Force, may have intentionally damaged the aircraft.

Jaroslav Naď, Minister of Defense of Slovakia, made a corresponding statement, Euractiv reports.

Recently, the Slovak government has decided to hand over its MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine, which the Slovak army has not used since August 2022.

“They were able to fly, but that didn’t mean they were also capable of combat. The Ukrainians came to Slovakia a week before their departure, brought spare parts and inspected the planes,” Naď said.

Jaroslav Naď also pointed out that malfunctions had been found in the fighter jets earlier, which, according to him, might be deliberately caused by Russian technicians. Until last year, they worked at the Slovak airbase in Sliač, and that could be the time for the Russians to damage the aircraft, according to the country’s Ministry of Defense.

“Even the police were investigating it, based on our suspicions. There were parts in the engines of the aircraft that Slovak technicians accessed, and then there were parts that only Russian technicians accessed. The defects appeared only in those parts accessed by the Russians,” Naď said.

It is emphasized that while the investigation did not prove intention, the Defence Ministry “felt a loss of confidence in the Russian technicians at Sliač because mistakes kept appearing in places only they had access to,” the minister added.

Lieutenant General Ľubomír Svoboda, a former highest-ranking Slovak pilot, has also expressed his distrust for Russian specialists. During a conversation with journalists, he suggested that Russians had intentionally damaged the jets.

“After them we took over an engine that was supposed to last 350 hours. And in the end, it only flew 70 hours. What can we make of that? Maybe there was poor workmanship, let’s call it that. I don’t know,” he commented in an interview for Denník N.

As previously reported, on March 23, Slovakia handed over the first MiG-29 fighter jets to Ukraine. Slovak Defense Minister Jaroslav Nad’ reported that four aircraft had arrived in Ukraine.

Ukrainian pilots transported the fighter jets with the assistance of the Slovak Air Force and Ukrainian personnel.

The transfer of MiG-29 fighter jets is taking place under the intergovernmental agreement between Slovakia and Ukraine.