Ukrainian Air Force Transferring Support Personnel to Front Line Combat

Last updated on January 16th, 2025 at 09:56 am

Ukrainian Air Force support personnel raised alarm this week, amid signs they could soon be transferred to front line combat, in the ongoing Russia-Ukraine war.

In a Jan. 14 post on Telegram, a blogger affiliated with the Ukrainian Air Force community published a warning statement that MiG-29 fighter aircraft maintainers had been notified of an imminent transfer to an infantry unit.

“Previously, 250 people have already been taken away, now they plan to transfer another 218,” the post read. “The technical staff is actually being destroyed, and without us, the aviation will not be able to function.”

As the post caught public attention, the Ukrainian Air Force issued a public statement, acknowledging some of its personnel are being moved over to front line ground fighting roles. Lt. Gen. Anatoly Krivonozhko, the commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, offered assurances maintainers would be exempt from the reassignment orders.

“Given the media’s response to the transfer of engineering and aviation service specialists to units of other types of military personnel, I officially announce – such transfers will not take place,” Krivonozhko said.

Krivonozhko said other in-demand roles, like air defense systems operators, would also be spared from frontline combat.

Still, Krivonozhko said “the situation on the frontline really requires difficult decisions.”

He said this wouldn’t be the first time Air Force personnel have been transferred to the Air Force Combined Rifle Brigade and pressed to fight “in the hottest front lines.”

After nearly three years of full-scale conflict, the Kyiv government faces persistent manpower shortages, while Russian forces continue to take more territory across eastern Ukraine.

Ukraine has already expanded its draft pool, lowering the conscription age from 27 to 25. In recent weeks, President Joe Biden’s outgoing administration has urged Ukraine to lower the draft age further, to males 18 and older.

In an interview with ABC News this weekend, Rep. Mike Waltz (R-FL), whom Donald Trump has picked to serve as his national security adviser, joined the calls for Ukraine to expand its draft.

“One of the things that we’ll be asking of the Ukrainians is — they have real manpower issues. Their draft age right now is 26 years old, not 18. I don’t think a lot of people realize that they could generate hundreds of thousands of new soldiers,” Waltz said.