North Macedonia officially approves transfer of combat helicopters to Ukraine

The Government of North Macedonia has decided to provide Ukraine with combat helicopters. A protocol on the transfer of military equipment was signed between the defence ministries of both countries.

This was reported by the Focus media outlet, citing a statement by the government of the Republic of North Macedonia. Defence Minister Slavjanka Petrovska also announced the transfer of combat helicopters earlier. The country's General Staff approved the move on Saturday, March 26.

According to Petrovska, 12 Mi-24 helicopters will be transferred to Kyiv. These machines were purchased from Ukraine back in 2001, but their service life expired 8 years ago, meaning they are not in use due to lack of spare parts, etc. According to NATO standards, Mi-24 helicopters are considered obsolete.

"Some of them have been modernised, two of them, but the modernisation was adapted to the conditions of the time and does not meet what we need now, even if we want to talk about technology development," Petrovska said a few days ago.

She added that the Ukrainian army needs combat helicopters to conduct various types of combat operations in the current environment and that Ukraine has the capabilities to adopt them. Ukrainian military pilots are familiar with Mi-24s, so no additional training is required.

Earlier, North Macedonia confirmed the transfer of four Su-25 aircraft to Ukraine. However, they can only be used for spare parts. We are talking about four Su-25s that are not fit for flight (three single-seat Su-25s and one two-seat Su-25UB).

As OBOZREVATEL previously reported, the Ministry of Defence of North Macedonia handed over T-72 tanks to Ukraine.

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