The Ukrainian military command's plan to throw high-skilled Air Force personnel into the infantry was said to be halted when the practice gained nationwide attention, followed by a condemnation from President Volodymyr Zelensky.
Soldiers, who spoke to the Kyiv Independent on conditions of anonymity, say, however, that nothing has changed, and the transfers are set to continue.
Uninterrupted by the public attention that condemned "a wasteful" use of specialist troops, the Air Force leadership — obeying the higher military command's orders — is set to continue sending more of its men to infantry in waves, according to three different servicemen who spoke on the condition of anonymity.
One Air Force officer confirmed that the transfer would continue due to poor mobilization results but said he could not officially reveal the figure due to the topic's sensitivity. Such transfers can have "detrimental effects," he added, with some specialized troops, for example, providing aviation engineering services, supplying oxygen to aircraft, and replacing batteries.
The transfer of about 5,000 to 6,000 servicemen from the Air Force to the Ground Forces began this January, though it's possible that about half of them would be moved next year, according to Ruslan Gorbenko, a lawmaker from the ruling Servant of the People. Another couple of thousand had already been transferred from the Air Force to the infantry since the beginning of the full-scale war, two Air Force servicemen said.
Gorbenko, who is a deputy chairman of the parliament's Committee on Human Rights, told the Kyiv Independent that the transfer concerns the Air Force servicemen from rifle units who have experience shooting down aerial targets with firearms and are unconnected to aviation.
The comment goes against the Jan. 14 video in which the aviation and technical personnel, who say that they have been fulfilling missions on Soviet-era MiG-29 fighter jets for over a decade, state they received an order to send "almost all technicians to the infantry."
Faced with heavy losses among battle-torn units, the Ukrainian military has been transferring specialized troops — such as artillerymen, drone pilots, medics, and sappers — to replenish the infantry, often causing a shortage in the now forcibly depleted units.
Asami Terajima
Unconventional troop reassignment
On Jan. 14, a video featuring about a dozen Air Force servicemen surfaced online. In it, one reads aloud a message about what the group describes as "a real challenge" that could "destroy the very foundation of our aviation."
The Ukrainian military command was trying to transfer 218 specialists crucial for maintaining Ukraine's air fleet to the infantry when the video was released, adding to the 250 that were previously transferred, according to the speaker.
The video prompted Ukrainian authorities to reassure the public that there are no such plans and specialists critical to aviation, air defense, and mobile fire units downing drones will remain untouched.
An Air Force serviceman, who spoke on condition of anonymity fearing repercussions, said this week that about 120 servicemen from his brigade had been transferred to the infantry since January, which included signalmen, machine gunners, radio operators and those working with cryptographic equipment.
The serviceman said he is worried that the transfer could leave Ukraine's air defense vulnerable, given some specialists tasked with detecting aerial targets, for example, were immediately thrown to the front line.
He added that the command was sending recently mobilized troops in 2024 from the Air Force to infantry, but now specialists with years of experience are also increasingly being targeted. It would be "a lot more difficult" to defend the sky, this "threatens the well-coordinated mechanism," he stressed.
He estimated that over 1,000 Air Force servicemen nationwide had already been transferred to the infantry, but the number remains difficult to calculate as it is kept secret by the military command.
Gorbenko said he was not familiar with the number of soldiers already transferred or which units they ended up in.
"Nothing has changed at all," the Air Force serviceman said from his base, where he says his comrades are randomly being sent one by one to the infantry — with the main criteria being men in good health who don't have a right to be demobilized.
Gorbenko believes that the transfer of men from the Air Force's rifle units makes sense because their job to shoot down the drones is becoming less necessary with the arrival of superior Western-provided air defense systems that do it more effectively. He explained that if these Air Force servicemen could shoot well, they would be helpful on the front line to alleviate the pressure there.
Sonya Bandouil
Depleted Armed Forces
The scandal emerged as Ukraine continued to struggle to replenish its battered infantry units following heavy losses.
In a desperate bid to cover the losses, the Ukrainian military has often transferred troops from other units, such as artillery, tech personnel, drone operators, sappers, and medics, into the infantry in an attempt to hold on the front line in Ukraine's Donetsk Oblast.
While the General Staff of Ukraine's Armed Forces claimed on Jan. 14 that there were no plans to increase "the acute shortage of specialists of the Air Force's engineering and aviation service who maintain aircraft to infantry units," it acknowledged that "many areas lack infantry." It added that it is "a necessary step" to strengthen defense by reinforcing combat brigades with soldiers from other branches of the Armed Forces.
The Air Force serviceman and the lawmaker's comments come after Ukrainian online newspaper Ukrainska Pravda reported, citing an anonymous senior Air Force officer, that Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi issued an order on Jan. 11 to transfer over 5,000 Air Force personnel to Ground Forces units.
In an interview with Ukrainian TSN news program on Jan. 19, Syrskyi admitted that there is a need to cover the gaps among mechanized brigades. But he stressed that there is an order prohibiting the transfer of irreplaceable highly qualified personnel who have undergone training and who specialize in aircraft maintenance.
"Mobilization capabilities, unfortunately, do not cover this need (to replenish the battle-torn mechanized brigades)," Syrskyi said during the interview.
The reality of soldiers who transferred from one profession to another without any preparation is gruesome, as painted by their surviving comrades.
The Air Force serviceman who spoke to the Kyiv Independent estimated that among the guys transferred to the infantry, about 40 percent were killed, and 40 percent were wounded in the first days if directly sent to the front, while some are still fighting.
But, Gorbenko suggested that the casualty rate among the new recruits fighting for the first time is much higher than that of the Air Force personnel familiar with firearms that are being sent to mechanized or motorized brigades.
Ukrainian and Western military experts were split in their opinions, with some arguing how the deep-rooted resource management issues are leading to the loss of experienced personnel, while others reiterate that some skills are less needed due to the modernization of equipment.
The Air Force serviceman, who himself doesn't weigh the risks of being sent to the infantry because of his commander role, told the Kyiv Independent that they are ready to be sent to the infantry if needed, as long as enough time is given for them to gain the necessary training and for the command to find someone to replace them.
The issue, he said, is that it takes necessary skills to replace the Air Force team that maintains aircraft, tracks aerial targets and shoots down drones.
Asami Terajima
