Poland will send four Soviet-era Mig fighter jets to Ukraine – becoming the first Nato country to send planes since Russia invaded last year.
Polish President Andrzej Duda said they would be sent in the coming days, with others handed over in the future.
Though a welcome boost to Ukraine’s air defence, the extra jets are not expected to be decisive in the war.
The deputy speaker of Ukraine’s parliament Olena Kondratyuk said she hoped more countries would follow.
Other Nato countries are considering sending Soviet-era planes, which Ukrainian pilots are trained to fly.
In related news, Polish authorities say they have detained nine members of a Russian spy ring who they say were gathering intelligence on weapons supplies to Ukraine and making plans to sabotage the deliveries.
At least 50 electronic spying devices had been installed by the network and said the investigation into the ring had taken several months.
Some of the cameras were found close to the airport in the city of Rzeszów.
Poland’s security service, the ABW, reportedly found cameras, electronic equipment, and GPS location devices, apparently intended to be secreted on aid bound for Ukraine. Authorities say they have evidence the group was paid by Russian intelligence.
With Ukrainian airspace closed since the Russian invasion a year ago, the small Rzeszów airport has become the main transit point for military and humanitarian cargo on its way to Ukraine
The arrests are the latest in connection with a wave of alleged Russian espionage activity across Europe since the invasion of Ukraine.
