Local air defense without unnecessary bureaucracy: communities will have the right to fund infrastructure protection

21 May 2026 Prime Minister of Ukraine Yuliia Svyrydenko reported that the government is expanding communities’ participation in the air defense system. The Cabinet of Ministers adopted changes to the experimental project to create air defense (AD) groups within volunteer territorial community formations. The government has been implementing this project since June 2025.

The main change is that local self-government bodies are becoming more actively involved in the project. They will be able to directly finance AD groups operating as part of volunteer territorial community formations. Communities will have the right to allocate funds to pay rewards to members of such groups, purchase technical equipment, fuel, unmanned systems and other equipment necessary to carry out tasks.

Separately, the government regulates the mechanism for additional rewards for members of AD groups. These are to be paid for confirmed hits or the destruction of an aerial target.

According to Yuliia Svyrydenko, such changes should increase the system’s effectiveness and allow communities to respond more quickly to aerial threats. This primarily concerns strengthening the protection of critical local infrastructure without placing additional burden on combat units.

Coordination and operational control of the groups will be carried out by the Air Forces of the Armed Forces of Ukraine. Members of such groups will perform tasks in accordance with the statutes of the Armed Forces of Ukraine.

For the Mykolaiv region, which regularly suffers from attacks by drones, missiles and FPV, such community participation can have practical significance. The faster localities can purchase equipment, fuel and necessary supplies for AD groups, the greater the chances of responding promptly to aerial threats and covering critical facilities.

In wartime the issue of local air defense is no longer abstract. For communities, it is effectively an opportunity to invest funds not only in the consequences of destruction, but also in attempts to prevent strikes on hospitals, energy infrastructure, water supply, industrial facilities and residential areas.

Previously we wrote:

• Hospital under rubble, community under FPV: what the Mykolaiv region experienced in a day
• At home on their land: why fighters of the 123rd Territorial Defense Brigade have an advantage over the enemy
• Kim promises anti-drone nets in the Halytsynivska community
• FPV drones on communities: administrative building damaged in the village of Lymany
• With aerial bombs and FPV: Russians attacked the Mykolaiv region 10 times in a day