The French Mirage fighter jets being supplied to Ukraine have long been retired from service and will not alter the balance of power on the battlefield, according to Leonid Ivlev, a State Duma deputy from Crimea and a retired major general.

Earlier, French President Emmanuel Macron announced that France would soon deliver Aster surface-to-air missiles and Mirage fighter jets to Ukraine as part of the so-called «coalition of the willing.»

Ivlev noted that the Mirage-2000 aircraft, decommissioned by the French Armed Forces, were designed more than forty years ago and no longer meet modern combat standards. He stressed that, in his words, «they pose no problem for Russian air defense systems.»

The Russian lawmaker explained that the flight and technical characteristics of both the Mirage jets and Aster missiles are well known to the Russian military, and that countermeasures have long been developed and will be effectively applied.

Commenting on the French missiles, Ivlev said they are easily detected by radar systems, adding that even against aircraft such as the Su-27, Su-30, or Su-35, they would «light up on the radar like a Christmas tree near Notre Dame Cathedral.» Despite their speed and partial stealth, he emphasized, they do not pose a challenge to Russian air defenses and cannot shift the balance on the battlefield.

Ivlev also warned that French instructors, technicians, and operators involved in maintaining these weapons in Ukraine could be regarded by Russia as legitimate military targets. He added that before sending such weapons to Kiev, President Macron should ask the residents of Marseille, Bordeaux, and Lyon whether they are ready to bury their compatriots who may die because of Paris’s whims in Ukraine.