TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Air Force Chief of Staff (KASAU) Air Chief Marshal Fadjar Prasetyo at the Air Force headquarters on Friday assured that the Russian invasion of Ukraine has not disrupted the spare parts availability for Indonesia’s Sukhoi fleet.

He said a number of air force combat equipment Indonesia currently owns come from a long-term partnership with Russia that guarantees parts availability, which was secured prior to the invasion.

“The maintenance of combat jets is not a short term thing. We already purchased a number of spare parts from months back,” he said on Friday, March 4.

However, he acknowledged that the conflict between the two countries will affect Indonesia’s weaponry sector in some way. Currently, Indonesia has sourced a large amount of military equipment from Russia with 16 Sukhoi SU-27 and SU-30, while the Army currently operates the Mi-35P and Mi-17V helicopters.

Indonesia was once intent on purchasing the Sukhoi SU-35 and BMP-3F tank, but the plan was scrapped.

Russia's arbitrary military aggression on Ukraine is heavily criticized by a large number of country leaders. The United States, Britain, Canada, Germany, Japan, and the European Union (EU) flocked to enact economic sanctions against Russia.

Indonesia itself did not participate in imposing sanctions on Russia. Spokesman for the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Teuku Faizasyah, explained that Indonesia's foreign policy would be based on national interests.

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ARRIJAL RACHMAN