Croatia withdrew the Soviet Mi-8 helicopters from its air force and began an "operation to send them to Ukraine."
In particular, preparations for transportation are being carried out, Jutarnji list reports, citing its own sources.
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In total, we are talking about the transfer of 14 Mi-8 helicopters that were in service with the Air Force of this country - 12 Mi-8MTV-1 and two Mi-8T helicopters. According to the publication, the helicopters will be ready for transportation in about ten days. Currently, markings are being removed from these helicopters and, if necessary, restoration work is being carried out.
In the future, these helicopters will be delivered to Poland, from where half of them will fly "on their own", another half will be partially disassembled and they will be sent by land.
According to the publication, it is impossible to get official confirmation of the Mi-8 transfer, as the Croatian government does not distribute information about military aid to Ukraine.
We will remind you that back in November of last year, the same publication Jutarnji list reported that the Ministry of Defense of Croatia had decided to transfer its 14 Mi-8 helicopters to Ukraine, but at that time it was still necessary to obtain approval from the country's government. Since 2014, Croatia has plans to replace Russian Mi helicopters with American UH-60 Black Hawk.
After all, Croatia ordered two UH-60s from the US in 2018 and was to receive two more for free – the country received the first two helicopters in February 2022, and two more in December 2022. In total, Zagreb wants to have 12 units of Black Hawk helicopters. In addition, 10 Mi-171Sh helicopters remain in the country's assets - as previously reported, in general, Croatia plans to abandon all its Soviet helicopters by 2024 at the latest.
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