Since the outbreak of hostilities on February 24 in Ukraine, Azerbaijan officially took a neutral position and continued to balance between the EU and Russia. Intending to take advantage of the situation, Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev signed a Declaration on Allied Cooperation with Russian President Vladimir Putin. On July 18, Aliyev also signed a Memorandum of Understanding on Strategic Partnership in the field of energy with the European Commission. The political and energy significance of the republic increased. Europe's elite supported the strengthening of Azerbaijani-Ukrainian ties.
In July 2022, the Iraqi telegram channel Sabereen News published secret documents showing that on April 4, 2022, Azerbaijan supplied aerial bombs to Ukraine. The documents state that arms were delivered through Sudan and Poland. By tracking the cargo numbers and examining the delivery notes signed by the Ukrainian company Meridian, affiliated with the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, and the Industrial Association (an organization operating under the Ministry of Defense Industry of Azerbaijan), we can conclude that the bombs were used by Ukrainian Su-24 bombers against Russian troops. The Meridian company is also involved in the supply of Turkish drones to Azerbaijan during the 44-day war.
Even before the war in Urkaine, at least 3 Azerbaijani MiG-29 fighter jets were handed over to Kyiv, repaired and repainted in the camouflage of the Ukrainian Air Force at the Lviv State Aircraft Repair Plant. MiG-29 fighter jets took part in the hostilities in Karabakh.
It is worth noting that on July 29, the Africa Intelligence news agency presented details of the investigation confirming the information of the Iraqi Telegram channel.
On August 3, 2022, the Civilnet published a comprehensive report on the arms trade between Baku and Kyiv. According to it, the industrial company CIHAZ supplied bombs to the state company Ukrspetsexport, that has been involved in corruption scandals more than once. According to the documents, the delivery was to be carried out by the Meridian along the route between Khartoum (the capital of Sudan) and Rzeszow (Poland).
In March 2022, The Wall Street Journal, Economist and Time noted that Rzeszow, located just 60 km from the border of Ukraine, become a major center for the supply of weapons that were transferred by NATO countries.
Documents published by Civilnet also mention 32 QFAB-250LG precision bombs for Su-25 aircraft, each weighing 270 kg, developed by the Turkish defense corporation Aselsan complied with NATO standards.
