“A necessary step.” The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine confirms the transfer of aviation technicians to the infantry

Military personnel and deputies have reported online that aviation technicians are being massively reassigned to infantry roles. Later, the General Staff confirmed these claims.

Initially, Member of Parliament Maryana Bezuhla stated that Air Force specialists are being actively transferred to infantry, reducing mobile fire groups and “leaving entire regions exposed.”

She claimed this is being done under the orders of the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, Oleksandr Syrskyi. Technicians, mechanics, and other specialists are reportedly being sent to the infantry in large numbers. Meanwhile, Bezuhla added, more officers are being recruited into staff positions.

MP Oleksiy Honcharenko further noted that not only aircraft technicians and mechanics from the Air Force are being transferred to infantry, but also personnel involved in detecting aerial targets or training others to do so.

Videos allegedly showing Air Force technicians addressing these concerns have also appeared online. In the videos, they discuss the mass transfers to infantry.

“Our unit received a telegram regarding the transfer of almost all technical personnel to infantry, which effectively means the collapse of the Air Force. Previously, 250 personnel were taken, and now another 250 are planned to be reassigned. The technical workforce is essentially being dismantled, and without us, aviation cannot function,” the military personnel stated.

After these reports emerged, the General Staff confirmed the reassignment of certain aviation technicians to infantry.

“Certain categories of Air Force personnel, as well as personnel from other branches of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, are being reassigned to reinforce ground, airborne, and assault troops after preliminary training at training centers. The situation on the front lines is challenging, with a shortage of infantry in many areas. Strengthening frontline brigades with personnel from other military branches is a necessary decision by military leadership to enhance our defense,” the statement read.

However, the General Staff emphasized that “critically scarce specialists from the Air Force Engineering and Aviation Service, who maintain aircraft, are not planned to be reassigned to infantry units.”

It was also stated that the Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of Ukraine “has prohibited the transfer of specialists in high-tech fields or those trained abroad on foreign weapons systems to the infantry.”

It is worth noting that at the end of December, Bezuhla criticized the practice of transferring doctors, air defense personnel, and artillery specialists to the infantry. In her opinion, such specialists should be further trained rather than reassigned to roles where they would be ineffective and likely to face fatal outcomes. Bezuhla also described Ukrainian infantry service as “a one-way ticket to slavery.”

During this same period, Western media reported that the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine had ordered the deployment of air defense personnel to the infantry due to a critical shortage of troops.

Earlier this month, President Volodymyr Zelensky signed a decree prohibiting the transfer of medical personnel to the infantry. He tasked the Cabinet of Ministers with finding a solution to the issue within a month and “revisiting the feasibility of revising the conditions and mechanisms for reserving medical workers.”