Evidence has emerged that Ukraine has topped up its hard-worked fleet of MiG-29 Fulcrum fighters from a somewhat surprising source: Azerbaijan. While the number of aircraft involved is not considerable, any addition to the MiG-29 fleet will be welcome for the Ukrainian Air Force, which has also received Fulcrums donated by Poland and Slovakia and which has suffered steady attrition since Russia’s full-scale invasion began.`
A photo that began to circulate recently on social media shows a single-seat Ukrainian Air Force MiG-29 wearing the distinctive camouflage scheme used by Azerbaijan, which combines blue, gray, and violet-gray. The date and location of the photo are unknown, but the jet appears to be on a combat mission, with a full armament of medium-range R-27 (AA-10 Alamo) and short-range R-73 (AA-11 Archer) air-to-air missiles. While it remains possible that the photo has been manipulated, there is presently nothing to indicate that it’s not genuine.
While there had been previous reports that at least some Azerbaijani MiG-29s had been donated to Ukraine, or otherwise found their way into Ukrainian service, none are known to have been seen until now.
Back in the summer of 2022, the @Caucasuswar account on Twitter published a photo showing three Azerbaijani MiG-29s undergoing repair at the state-owned Lviv State Aviation Repair Plant in Ukraine. The aircraft were left stranded in Ukraine after the full-scale invasion, after which they appear to have passed over to Ukrainian control.
It seems the aircraft (or at least one of them) survived the March 2022 Russian attack on the Lviv State Aviation Repair Plant, which we reported on at the time. Satellite imagery obtained by TWZ confirmed the destruction of a large hangar there and other damage.
The Lviv plant was a priority target for Russia since it was the only one in the country capable of performing major maintenance on MiG-29s. As well as servicing Ukrainian Air Force Fulcrums, the plant worked, in the past, for foreign customers, including Azerbaijan.
It’s not clear whether the Azerbaijani MiG-29s were donated to Kyiv, sold, or simply impounded and then impressed into service. It’s also unclear if any of the other examples were repainted in Ukrainian camouflage, which would have concealed their former identity.
There has, however, been speculation that Azerbaijan might have “unofficially” provided other support to Ukraine, in the form of precision-guided bombs, 82mm mortars, and fuel.
Interestingly, Azerbaijan’s fleet of MiG-29s originated in Ukraine.
The former Soviet state, located on the Caspian Sea, adjacent to Georgia and Armenia, did not inherit MiG-29s from Soviet stocks. Instead, it acquired around 15 examples secondhand from Ukraine. These were overhauled in Lviv, with reports of some modest modernization work, and deliveries began in 2007.
Between 2015 and 2017, Azerbaijani MiG-29s took part in joint exercises with the Turkish Air Force, representing one of its closest military allies, and, starting in 2017, Fulcrum overhauls were conducted in Lviv.
Evidence of a former Azerbaijani MiG-29 in Ukrainian service comes at a time when tensions between Azerbaijan and Russia are heightened.
As reported by the U.S.-based think tank, the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace (CEIP), the arrest of several dozen ethnic Azerbaijanis in Russia earlier this summer, their subsequent beatings, and the death of at least two men, led to notable pushback from Azerbaijan.
Azerbaijan has accused the Kremlin’s security forces of deliberately killing its nationals and stepped up its security measures regarding Russia.
While Azerbaijan has been an important logistics partner for Russia since the start of the full-scale invasion of Ukraine, the recent developments are unusual, with suggestions that Azerbaijan may be seeking a way of distancing itself from Moscow and building ties elsewhere. Russian peacekeeping forces didn’t intervene in the 2020 war between Azerbaijan and Armenia over Nagorno-Karabakh. In 2023, Azerbaijan took control of the disputed region, with no Russian interference.
The accidental shooting down of an Azerbaijan Airlines plane by the Russian military in 2024 also served to drive a wedge between the two countries.
Meanwhile, Azerbaijan has been increasingly vocal about its support for Ukraine.
As for the Ukrainian Air Force, the Azerbaijani jets are in no way the first additional MiG-29s it has received since the full-scale invasion. These foreign transfers are in addition to dozens of combat aircraft (also including Su-24s and Su-27s) that have been refurbished and returned to service. At least some of these were returned to action after long periods standing dormant or in storage.
In terms of support from NATO allies, Poland transferred to Ukraine 14 of its MiG-29s, from what was a fleet of around 28.
Slovakia followed Poland’s lead, with the transfer of 13 MiG-29s to Ukraine. Of these 13, there have been different accounts about how many were provided in an airworthy status and how many will be used solely as a source of spare parts. Some reports suggest that 10 moderately modernized jets will be introduced to Ukrainian service, while three non-upgraded examples will be used for spares.
Four of the Slovakian MiGs were flown to Ukraine in March 2023, becoming the first tactical jets to be officially supplied to Kyiv since the full-scale invasion began.
You can read more about the Polish and Slovakian MiG-29s, their complex histories, and their various (modest) upgrade programs in this previous article.
Despite the arrival of more modern and capable F-16s and Mirage 2000s, the MiG-29 remains prized by the Ukrainian Air Force. This is a fact reflected in its continued adaptation to carry new weaponry, both Western-supplied and locally developed. With significant stocks of spares and well-trained maintenance crews, the MiG-29 is regarded as easy to maintain and adapt.
Ukraine started the war with around 50 MiG-29s in operational service, assigned to two regiments. According to the Oryx open-source tracking group, since the start of the current conflict, 31 Ukrainian MiG-29s have been confirmed destroyed, and more damaged. The actual figure is almost certainly higher.
With that in mind, any efforts that bolster the Fulcrum fleet are of considerable value as the Ukrainian Air Force continues its campaign against the Russian aggressor.
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