Zelenskyy held the Air Force meeting — what was discussed

On Tuesday, February 4, the President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy held the meeting on the development of Ukrainian military aviation. He emphasized the need to accelerate the modernization of the Air Force System.

The Ukrainian leader reported it on Telegram.

Meeting regarding Ukrainian aviation

"We have already taken significant steps—we have transitioned to F16s, which are effectively carrying out combat missions for Ukraine. This is a major success of our Armed Forces of Ukraine, one of the fastest transitions to a new type of aircraft among all countries," it is said in the statement.

According to the President, we are now expecting more French fighter jets in our skies to strengthen our defence under the management of Ukrainian pilots. He emphasized the need to speed up the modernization of the Ukrainian military aviation system.

Zelenskyy clarified that it meant new personnel approaches, organizational changes, and much greater attention of the command staff to pilots, engineers, and all professionals who invest knowledge and energy in the development of the Air Force. The meeting was also attended by the mother of the Hero of Ukraine Andrii Pilschykov "Dzhus" Liliya Averyanova.

The Ukrainian leader instructed the Minister of Defence Rustem Umerov to implement the identified organizational changes. They also discussed the prospects for cooperation with partners: work is underway on personnel issues to strengthen the Air Force Command Staff and the leadership of the Ministry of Defence.

As a reminder, Ukraine will receive fourth-generation Mirage 2000-5 fighters by the end of March 2025.

Also in early January, the UK announced the completion of basic training for Ukrainian pilots as part of the F-16 training.