Highly qualified specialists from the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine (AFU), who had been transferred to the infantry due to a shortage of personnel at the front, have been reinstated after public outcry and the response of the Commander-in-Chief of the AFU, Oleksandr Syrskyi.
According to Ukrinform, this was stated by Colonel Yurii Ihnat, head of the communications department of the Air Force Command of the AFU, in an interview with Radio Svoboda.
“You are absolutely right about the transfers; they did happen. I won’t specify the number because this information is not public, but they did occur. The General Staff determined a certain number of servicemen to be reassigned to other branches of the Armed Forces — Ground Forces, Air Assault Forces, and others — due to the difficult and tense situation at the front. We hear daily about the catastrophic shortage of personnel, so the decision was made to reinforce the front lines using personnel from the Air Force and other support units, not just from the Air Force. There were specific calculations for how many personnel each branch had to provide,” Ihnat explained.
At the same time, he emphasized that it is critically important for the Air Force not to lose qualified specialists. Therefore, after the issue gained public attention and a special commission was established, some of these specialists were reinstated to their original positions.
“Even after the commission’s work, the transfers continued. However, the Commander-in-Chief issued an order to prohibit the reassignment of specialists in critical shortage — highly qualified experts such as operators of aviation air defense missile systems, aviation technicians, or those who had undergone training abroad for these systems. As a result, these transfers were halted. If any such specialists had already been transferred, the Air Force Commander ordered their return after a review, as they had been reassigned before the official prohibition was announced,” Ihnat clarified.
He also noted that transfers from the Air Force are still ongoing, but they now primarily affect lower-skilled personnel.
“The combat mission must be carried out, so personnel are still being reassigned to reinforce the front. However, these critical specialists are no longer being transferred, but others still are,” Ihnat added. He also emphasized that this remains a sensitive issue for the Air Force, as many roles support aircraft operations, including technical personnel, airfield security, and runway maintenance staff.
Ihnat further stated that personnel reassigned to other military branches are usually not replaced, meaning that the remaining specialists must take on additional responsibilities.
As previously reported by Ukrinform, in early January, reports began circulating that Air Force specialists had been reassigned to the Ground Forces to replenish combat brigades. The Air Force denied that critical specialists from the engineering and aviation service were being transferred to other branches. The General Staff also stated that it had no plans to transfer critically needed specialists from the Air Force’s engineering and aviation service to the infantry but instead aimed to increase the number of flight personnel.
On January 16, the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine established a special commission to review the situation regarding the reassignment of Air Force personnel to other branches of the military.
Source: Air Force reinstates specialists transferred to infantry
