Ukraine's General Staff says active-duty air defence troops are not being transferred to infantry units
Following an article by The Guardian, the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine said that the newspaper’s claim that personnel are being transferred from air defence to infantry units is not accurate, though it confirmed that other units are being manned by Air Force soldiers.
Source: General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine
Details: The General Staff was responding to an article published by The Guardian, which claimed that the General Staff had ordered to send more air force personnel to fight in infantry units.
According to the General Staff, the claim that "air defence personnel are being transferred to infantry [units] is untrue and incorrect", though it admitted that some personnel are indeed being transferred to different units.
Quote from the General Staff: "In order to ensure that the military units being formed and restored to combat capability are properly manned, a certain number of servicemen from the Air Force units of the Armed Forces of Ukraine have indeed been reassigned to positions in accordance with their military specialties.
However, this does not apply to air defence experts who ensure the Ukrainian sky is protected."
Details: The General Staff said that some servicemen from "Air Force security companies, some mobile firing groups deployed in the rear, and personnel not involved in the maintenance and operation of high-tech weapons and military equipment" are indeed being reassigned and seconded to new units.
According to the General Staff, the priority now is to hold the front line in light of the difficult circumstances observed there.
Background: On 21 December, The Guardian posted an article that cited officials in Ukrainian air defence units and said that the shortage of personnel at the front in Ukraine has become so acute that the General Staff has ordered "already-depleted air defence units" to release more men to be sent to the front as infantry.
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