Russian politician claims: Serbia is sending MiGs to Ukraine

(Patria) - The agreement between France and Serbia on the procurement of 12 new multi-purpose Rafale fighter jets for 2.7 billion euros contains a clause on the transfer of Serbian MiG-29 fighters to France, after which they will be sent to Ukraine, claims the former deputy speaker of the Russian Duma.

"The fighters will be handed over to the French in December. It is obvious that these planes will then go to Ukraine. Moscow has allegedly already been informed of this point of agreement," Elena Vladimirovna Panina wrote on Telegram.

According to publicly available data, Serbia has 14 MiG-29 fighters in active service, and Panina claims that a transfer of 36 aircraft is being prepared. It is not known how many inactive MiG-29 aircraft Serbia has in storage.

"It is unlikely that Belgrade has the permission of the Russian authorities for this action. The end-user certificate in arms transactions should be permissive, not notification-based.

However, practice shows that there is no point in relying on legal norms in arms trade in Russia. If the West needs it, it will be trampled immediately," states Panina, reports HRT.

Information about the possible transfer of Serbian aircraft to Ukraine comes at a time when the 19th Bled Strategic Forum is being held in Slovenia, which is also attended by Serbian Prime Minister Miloš Vučević.

"Ukrainians are Slavic brothers to Serbs, and Belgrade has voted for all resolutions on the issue of Ukrainian territorial integrity and sovereignty at the United Nations," Vučević said yesterday.