Germany approves Poland’s request to send jets to Ukraine

Ukrainian president Volodymyr Zelenskyy has lobbied Western supporters for months to provide fighter jets, anti-aircraft defence systems and other equipment and ammunition

Germany’s Defence Minister Boris Pistorius (Geert Vanden Wijngaert/AP/PA)

Germany has approved Poland’s request to transfer five Soviet-designed fighter jets to Ukraine, the German Defence Ministry has said.

The permission was needed because Germany used to own the Soviet-designed MiG 29 planes, which were part of communist East Germany’s military fleet.