official said.Īhead of the invasion, officials had estimated that Russia had potentially readied hundreds of the thousands of aircraft in its air force for a Ukraine mission. The United States estimates that Russia is using just over 75 aircraft in its Ukraine invasion, the senior U.S. He met the Ukrainian people,' Biden said.

'Instead he met a wall of strength he never imagined. It has also led to mythologizing of the Ukrainian air force, including a tale about a Ukrainian jet fighter that purportedly single-handedly downed six Russian aircrafts, dubbed online as 'The Ghost of Kyiv.'Ī Reuters Fact Check showed how a clip from the videogame Digital Combat Simulator was miscaptioned online to claim it was an actual Ukrainian fighter jet shooting down a Russian plane.īiden led a standing ovation in support of Ukrainians in his State of the Union speech on Tuesday, praising their determination and mocking Putin for thinking he could just 'roll into Ukraine' unopposed. Ukraine's ability to keep flying air force jets is a visible demonstration of the country's resilience in the face of attack and has been a morale booster, both to its own military and Ukraine's people, experts say. Ukraine's experience from the last eight years of fighting with Russian-backed separatist forces in the east was dominated by static World War One-style trench warfare.īy contrast Russia's forces got combat experience in Syria, where they intervened on the side of President Bashar al-Assad, and demonstrated some ability to synchronize ground maneuvers with air and drone attacks. While the Russians have been under-performing, Ukraine's military has been exceeding expectations so far. 'And that they are not as good as they presumed they were.' 'The Russians are discovering that coordinating multi-domain operations is not easy,' Deptula told Reuters. Air Force three-star general who once commanded the no-fly zone over northern Iraq, said he was surprised that Russia didn't work harder to establish air dominance from the start. and British anti-tank missiles.ĭavid Deptula, a retired U.S.

That leaves Russian soldiers vulnerable to attack from Ukrainian forces, including those newly equipped with Turkish drones and U.S. Military experts have seen evidence of a lack of Russian air force coordination with ground troop formations, with multiple Russian columns of troops sent forward beyond the reach of their own air defense cover. The confusion over how Russia has used its air force comes as President Joe Biden's administration rejects calls by Kyiv for a no-fly zone that could draw the United States directly into a conflict with Russia, whose plans for its air force are unclear.

US Air Force M116 tanks