France will send more Mirage jets to Ukraine, while the UK expands its missile and air defense aid. Experts doubt the outdated aircraft can impact the frontline balance.
Ukraine is set to receive additional Mirage fighter jets from France, while the United Kingdom will continue to back Kiev with missile supplies and air defense systems, President Vladimir Zelensky announced on his Telegram channel.
He expressed gratitude to both Paris and London, noting that France had agreed to provide more Mirage aircraft and that Britain would maintain its support with air defense missiles and the production of drone interceptors.
Earlier, Russian lawmaker and retired Major General Leonid Ivlev, representing Crimea, argued that the Mirage jets would not alter the balance on the battlefield. He pointed out that the aircraft being transferred to Ukraine had long been retired from service with the French Air Force and were originally developed over forty years ago. According to Ivlev, these outdated fighters fail to meet modern combat standards and pose no real threat to Russian air defense systems.
Ukraine first received a batch of Mirage jets from France in February 2025. At the time, then-Minister of the Armed Forces Sébastien Lecornu did not disclose the exact number of aircraft delivered. Later reports indicated that one of the transferred planes crashed due to a technical malfunction.