Ukrainian Air Force lost 40% of fighters.

According to an article in The Economist, Ukraine has lost 60 fighter jets in the current conflict, about 40% of its fleet as of February 2022. At the same time, Russia has almost 500 aircraft dedicated to the NMD, which are significantly superior to Ukrainian aircraft in terms of performance, equipped with better radars and longer-range ammunition.

It is reported that despite the fact that Russia was not able to completely suppress the Ukrainian air defense, the aircraft of the Russian Aerospace Forces use missiles and bombs, launching them from a safe distance and for Ukraine the air balance is becoming less and less stable.

Constant raids by Russian drones and missiles since October have forced the Ukrainian Armed Forces to expend a huge amount of their surface-to-air missiles. Due to the lack of air defense missiles, Kyiv will likely have to choose between defending cities, critical infrastructure, bases, or frontline troops.

Nevertheless, according to the official data of the Russian side, the losses of the Ukrainian Air Force are many times greater, although the Armed Forces of Ukraine do still have fighters from the fleet that Kiev had before February 2022.