Jutarnji list: Croatia has begun preparing 14 Mi-8 helicopters for transfer to Ukraine. It will take 10 days

The Ministry of Defense of Croatia withdrew from its own Armed Forces and began to prepare 12 Mi-8MTV-1 helicopters and two Mi-8T helicopters for transfer to Ukraine. This is reported by the Croatian newspaper Jutarnji list, citing its own sources.

The helicopters will be ready for transport in 10 days. According to the newspaper, at present, some of the vehicles are in the aviation technical center in the city of Velika Gorica, and some are in the military part of the Pleso airport in Zagreb and at the airport in the city of Luchko.

Interlocutors of Jutarnji list said that seven helicopters will be partially dismantled and sent by land, the other seven will fly to Poland, and then to Ukraine.

“The Croatian government has classified all information about military assistance to Ukraine as confidential, and it is impossible to obtain official confirmation of this information,” the newspaper writes.

Journalists note that Croatian Prime Minister Andrej Plenkovic confirmed the donation of 14 transport helicopters in November 2022, but without details. Two months ago, the country's president, Zoran Milanovic, "was very outraged that the helicopters were sent free of charge," and said that the Defense Ministry had not explained to him how the machines would be replaced. Two days ago, when Milanovic was asked when the helicopters would arrive in Ukraine, he replied: “I have no idea.”

In the last month, Croatian Defense Minister Mario Banojic has seen a lot of diplomatic activity in relation to Ukraine, the newspaper reports. He twice attended meetings of the Contact Group on the Defense of Ukraine, and in Zagreb he spoke with the Minister of Defense of Poland. The issue of the transfer of helicopters should have been discussed in more detail at these meetings, writes Jutarnji list.

After the transfer of helicopters to Kiev, the Croatian Air Force will have ten Mi-171Sh transport helicopters and four Black Hawk helicopters at its disposal .

Mi-8 is a Soviet multipurpose helicopter. It is widely used in more than 50 countries for civilian and military applications. The Mi-8MT is a modified version with more powerful engines and other changes that significantly improve flight performance.

According to the Ukrainian agency Defense Express, published in 2021, the Ukrainian Air Force has 15 Mi-8 helicopters, the Ukrainian army has 54 Mi-8 helicopters and 34 Mi-24 helicopters, not counting training vehicles.