**Ukraine’s President Addresses Air Force Transfer Controversy**
President Volodymyr Zelensky has spoken out about the transfer of Air Force personnel to the Ground Forces. Thousands of Air Force soldiers have been moved to the Ground Forces since 2024.
The latest directive was issued on January 11, when Commander-in-Chief Oleksandr Syrskyi ordered over 5,000 Air Force personnel to be transferred to Ground Forces units. A senior Air Force officer said this move has reached a “critical level,” with unit staffing dropping to 50%.
Zelensky directed Anatolii Kryvonozhko, Commander of the Ukrainian Air Force, to ensure the Air Force maintains its required personnel levels and address public concerns about recent transfers.
**No Reduction in Specialist Ranks**
Zelensky said he has instructed that everything be explained to the public and not to reduce the ranks of specialists critical to the Air Force – aviation, air defense, and mobile fire units. The General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine also weighed in, reassuring the public that critical engineering and aviation specialists servicing aircraft are not being transferred.
Instead, selected Air Force personnel are undergoing training to address personnel shortages in infantry and other units.
**Other Developments**
Slovakia‘s pro-Western opposition parties announced plans to initiate a vote of no confidence in Prime Minister Robert Fico’s government, citing concerns over his governance and foreign policy direction.
The German government is still discussing a proposed 3 billion euros aid package for Ukraine. Metinvest, Ukraine’s largest steel producer, has suspended operations at the Pokrovsk coking coal mine in Donetsk Oblast due to worsening security conditions and power outages.
**Russian Activities**
Monitoring group German Aid to Ukraine wrote that two MIM-104 Patriot fire units and a total of 200 Bundeswehr soldiers will be deployed to Poland for an estimated six months to protect Polish airspace. Chemical plants, refineries, the Engels airbase, and other facilities in Russia were successfully targeted.
Russian Federal Security Service (FSB) counterintelligence officer Vladimir Feshchenko was found dead in a Russian Defense Ministry building in Moscow.
**International Reaction**
The United States has delivered a message to Russian President Vladimir Putin to put an end to Russian intelligence’s suspected plans to smuggle incendiary devices onto U.S.-bound cargo planes. Canberra is making “urgent inquiries” about the status of Australian citizen Oscar Jenkins, a volunteer soldier captured by Russia in Ukraine.
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