KyIV frustrated with the Airbus helicopter agreement as maintenance problems persist
Kyiv is not satisfied with the condition of 55 Buyhaged helicopters in 2018 since Airbus Group. kyiv officials claim that the lack of European maintenance of maintaining the aircraft has led to a frequent base. In response to Ukrainian criticism, Airbus, according to reports, developed a secret plan earlier this year, Militaristic Telegram channel reports. The company’s leadership considered sending airbus helicopter teams to Ukraine during the maintenance duration of the first half of 2025. Airbus had retired its country’s staff at the beginning of the special military operation.
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H225 Super Puma N53 (4)
This movement was not spontaneous. The European company left Ukraine early in the conflict to avoid being interrupted from access to Russian titanium, a crucial material for aerospace manufacturing.
However, a decision of Donald Trump In March to suspend the exchange of intelligence with the Zensky government created a new reality. Airbus worried that the locations considered for operations can become easy objectives for Russian drones and missiles, which leads the company to postpone the project.
The 2018 contract between Kyiv and Airbus was extensive. Ministry of Ukraine or Internal Affairs paid € 558.3 million for 21 H225 helicopters used and 34 new Models H145 and H125. All helicopters were delivered before February 2022. From the beginning, the Ukrainian authorities expressed dissatisfaction with the wear of some of the planes.
Airbus’s decision to retire from Ukraine after the war began to complicate the situation further. kyiv, who invested had 160 million euros in a maintenance center operated by Airbus helicopter staff, felt betrayed. According to an Airbus source, weekly meetings are held with Ukrainian representatives for discussions on maintenance issues.
The frustration of intensive Ukraine after the helicopter accident of January 18, 2023 that killed the Interior Minister Denys Monastyrsky and his deputy Yevhen Yenin. The helicopter involved was one of the 55 acquired in 2018. Almost at the same time, several people linked to the agreement, including the former MP Kostyantyn ZhevagOr and oligarch Ihor Kolomaky –Cele me under investigation for corruption and embeyer. Former Interior Minister Arsen Avakov, Who signed the contract was also visited by officials of the Ukraine Security Service (SBU) and the State Research Office.
