It became known which country took Ukraine for a ride with fighter jets

Kyiv wanted to buy MiGs from the Air Force of a Latin American country

The other day, the head of the Ukrainian Armored Vehicles military company, Vladislav Belbas, complained about Russian diplomats who allegedly thwarted a deal for Kiev to purchase fighter jets in one of the countries. Belbas did not say which country and which aircraft he was talking about. However, experts studying global arms exports easily identified the country that refused Kyiv aircraft.

According to Kyiv, Moscow became aware of the details of the planned transaction, it put pressure on the possible supplier of Russian-made aircraft, and he chose to refuse the upcoming contract.

By and large, ensuring that the recipient of Russian aircraft does not “trade in them” is not so difficult. Any contract provides for a ban on the re-export of aircraft to third countries, especially to the conflict zone.

Which country chose not to deal with Ukraine in the matter of aircraft supplies? According to experts from the Center for Analysis of Strategies and Technologies (CAST), “we may be talking about Peru and an attempt to buy MiG-29 fighters from it.”

Belbas, by the way, himself hinted that the country is located on the other side of the world, that is, on another continent.

Peru actually has MiG-29 aircraft purchased in Russia and other countries, as well as Su-25 attack aircraft. Thus, in 1996, the Peruvian Air Force acquired 18 MiG-29 fighters (16 single-seat and two double-seat) and the same number of Su-25 attack aircraft (10 single-seat and eight double-seat) from Belarus.

Subsequently, Russia purchased three export versions of the MiG-29SE fighter in modern configuration, and in 2008-2012, eight more Belarusian MiGs. They were modernized with the help of Russian specialists into the MiG-29SMT variant.

Most likely, the CAST experts’ guess is correct, and the Ukrainian Armed Forces have lost a major addition to their aircraft fleet. If the Ukrainian official did not lie, then it would not be a sin to reward Russian diplomats for the “non-contact destruction” of a flight or squadron of enemy aircraft.