Zelenskyy calls Air Force performance ‘unsatisfactory’ in some regions

“I consider the work of the Air Force unsatisfactory in parts of Ukraine, and we discussed with the Air Force commander and the defense minister which decisions must be implemented immediately to more effectively shoot down Shahed drones,” Zelenskyy said.

He said the meeting included briefings on the situation in Kyiv and Kyiv Oblast, as well as in Kharkiv, Poltava, Kirovohrad, Vinnytsia, Dnipropetrovsk and Zaporizhzhya oblasts, along with communities near the Russian border and close to the front line.

Zelenskyy made similar remarks on Jan. 20, saying the Air Force’s work on destroying Shahed drones was unsatisfactory. In an evening address, he said he had “broken down this situation” with Defense Minister Mykhailo Fedorov.

On Jan. 28, Fedorov said Col. Yevhen Khlebnikov had been appointed to lead the “small air defense” effort, working under Pavlo Yelizarov, a deputy commander of the Air Force.

On Feb. 4, Ukraine’s commander-in-chief Oleksandr Syrskyi said the armed forces had established a new command for unmanned air defense systems to counter Russian drones.