Fedorov signed an order appointing Yelizarov as Deputy Commander of the Air Force

Minister of Defense Mykhailo Fedorov signed an order appointing Pavlo Yelizarov as Deputy Commander of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who will be responsible for the development of small air defense. Fedorov announced this on Telegram, UNN reports.

We are strengthening the protection of the Ukrainian sky — I signed an order appointing one of the most effective commanders, Lazar, as Deputy Commander of the Air Force of the Armed Forces of Ukraine, who will be responsible for the development of small air defense.

According to him, today no country in the world has such experience in countering air attacks as Ukraine. He reminded that in 2025, Russia launched up to 100,000 "Shaheds" and other types of UAVs at Ukraine — dozens of critical infrastructure facilities were damaged, hundreds of residential buildings were hit, and there were casualties, while the number of attacks is growing.

Fedorov noted that to counter enemy attacks, at the President's request, the approach to sky protection is being changed. "The transformation of such a system does not happen in a few days, but we need to start today to finally close this issue," the minister said.

Fedorov said that "our task is to build an anti-drone dome over Ukraine, a system that does not react after the fact, but destroys the threat while it is still approaching.

This requires people who have already proven their effectiveness in modern warfare. Lazar is one of them. Under his leadership, Lazar's group became one of the most effective units in the Defense Forces. This team destroyed enemy equipment worth more than $13 billion.

Now, Fedorov noted, the task is to scale this experience. To build a system that works not locally, but at the level of the entire country.

It is difficult to transform the army when the enemy strikes every day. But we have no choice. We must change approaches, structures, and the logic of work — so that technologies really work on the battlefield, and do not remain in presentations. The result will not be tomorrow, but we are building the system today. The anti-drone dome is not about the future. It is about survival today and the possibility of Ukraine's development even during the war.

The head of the Ministry of Defense also announced new personnel appointments soon.

Recall

President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelenskyy appointed Pavlo Yelizarov as the new Deputy Commander of the Air Force.