Ukraine and Poland, close allies in the fight against Russia, have recently had a falling-out over trade disputes and historical controversies dating back to World War II.

Last week, Ukraine backed out of a deal to provide its advanced drone technology to NATO member Poland—which responded in kind by opting not to provide Kyiv with the final nine of its MiG-29 Fulcrum fighter jets.

“I proposed, I think, a very partnership-based approach—MiGs for drones. The Ukrainians initially accepted this and didn’t implement it, so there are no MiGs for Ukraine because there are no drones or drone capabilities for Poland,” Polish Defense Minister Wladyslaw Kosiniak-Kamysz said in an interview with Polsat News.

The original deal had called for Poland to donate the final nine MiG-29 aircraft to the Ukrainian Air Force as those aircraft were retired from frontline service in the Polish Air Force in favor of newer American-made jets. In return for the jets, Ukraine would provide unspecified drone technology to Warsaw, which has been seeking to build a large-scale fleet of unmanned aerial systems (UAS). It was expected that Ukraine would aid in the efforts to develop the systems and tactics for Poland’s drone fleet, but it now appears unlikely to do so.

How Did Poland and Ukraine Get into a Fight?

Poland had been a staunch and vital supporter of Ukraine since Russia launched its unprovoked invasion in February 2022. Warsaw was universally viewed as Kyiv’s most resolute ally, owing largely to the shared geography of the two nations and their long history of hostility to the Kremlin. Poland was the first nation to supply Ukraine with warplanes when it gave Ukraine 14 older MiG-29s in 2023. Throughout the war, Poland has also provided Ukraine with massive shipments of tanks and other military hardware.

However, the relationship between Poland and Ukraine has increasingly soured due to several interrelated factors. Ukraine’s defense integration with Europe has led to greater economic integration, and Polish farmers have objected to the influx of cheap Ukrainian grain—formerly exported almost entirely around the world via the Black Sea—into Central Europe.

Both nations have also struggled with competing historical memories, notably the Ukrainian Insurgent Army’s (UPA’s) killing of 100,000 ethnic Poles during World War II. Kyiv has long rejected the idea that the massacre was a genocide, and attempted to deflect responsibility by noting that many thousands of Ukrainians were also killed by Poles in reprisals during the war. Indeed, when its borders were shifted to the west after the war, the Polish government forcibly removed around 140,000 ethnic Ukrainians from territories it gained from Germany—a move that some Ukrainians have suggested amounted to ethnic cleansing.

These historical tensions were largely put aside following Russia’s invasion, but resurfaced in June when the Ukrainian military named an elite special forces unit after the UPA. The modern Ukrainian government had claimed that the naming carried no “anti-Polish” intent, and instead was chosen by those soldiers who are now fighting against Moscow. Still, the naming of the new elite unit resulted in Poland’s President Karol Nawrocki stripping Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky of Poland’s highest state honor, the Order of the White Eagle.

Nawrocki called the naming “incomprehensible and deeply disappointing,” claiming that it “hurts not only our historical memory, [but] also undermines the trust built up over the years and in recent months.”

Could the Poland-Ukraine MiGs-for-Drones Deal Be Revived?

As a result of the widening rift between the two nations, Warsaw confirmed that it would decommission and scrap its remaining MiG-29 jet fighters, instead of transferring them to Ukraine.

Even as the Polish legacy fighters first entered service in 1989, and Kyiv has received far more modern and capable Western-supplied fighters, including the US-made F-16 Fighting Falcon, the Ukrainian Air Force continues to employ its MiG-29 fleet in air defense and strike mission roles. The UAF has historically preferred Soviet jets, which have long formed the core of its air force and for which it has a deep “bench” of available pilots, as opposed to the far smaller number qualified on newer Western jets.

“Since the start of Russia’s full-scale invasion, the Soviet-era fighters have been modified to carry Western-supplied precision weapons, including AGM-88 HARM anti-radiation missiles and AASM Hammer guided bombs,” Euromaidan Press reported.

About the Author: Peter Suciu

Peter Suciu has contributed to dozens of newspapers, magazines and websites over a 30-year career in journalism. He regularly writes about military hardware, firearms history, cybersecurity, politics, and international affairs. Peter is also a contributing writer for Forbes and Clearance Jobs. He is based in Michigan. You can follow him on Twitter: @PeterSuciu. You can email the author: Editor@nationalinterest.org.

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