Aerial warfare in the Russian invasion of Ukraine

This consisted of ensuring that the radio engineering troops, responsible for providing warning from air attacks, could detect targets in a 300–400 kilometres (190–250 mi) range.

[16] In April 2022, an unspecified country handed spare parts to help Ukraine restore 20 jet aircraft to operational usage, a United States defence official claimed.

[18] In May 2023, the United States indicated support for training Ukrainian pilots on the F-16 fighters and for allies to transfer the aircraft to Ukraine.

[20] On 6 June 2024, according to Le Figaro, French president Emmanuel Macron announced the future transfer of an unspecified number of Mirage 2000-5 fighter jets to Ukraine.

Justin Bronk, a senior fellow at the Royal United Services Institute, attributed the failure to establish air superiority to a lack of early warning, coordination capacity and sufficient planning time.

In addition, the Russian use of small jet formations and the U.S's fast delivery of anti-aircraft FIM-92 Stingers to Ukraine were also factors in Russia not achieving air superiority.

[28] In addition, Ukraine successfully used anti-air systems against Russia, which meant that Russian aircraft could not freely operate over most of Ukrainian-controlled territory.

[41] From the last week of March to the end of April, Ukraine initiated helicopter raids to rescue members of the Azov Regiment during the Siege of Mariupol.

[44] This led the other Black Sea Fleet ships to relocate to the Sevastopol harbor, where there were ground based anti-air defences.

[49][50] During the Battle of Avdiivka, according to the ISW, Russian forces gained temporary and localized air superiority, likely for the first time during the war.

[55] The same day Russian airstrikes targeted warehouses in Odesa as well as radar and air defense systems in Lipetske.

[56][57] Ukrainian authorities also reported that Russian shelling targeted the military airport in Odesa and destroyed one aircraft.

According to President Volodymyr Zelenskyy, eight rockets launched by Russia destroyed the infrastructure of Vinnytsia airport located in central Ukraine.

[70][71][72] the same day the General Staff of the Armed Forces of Ukraine reported that 88 Russian aircraft had been destroyed since the war began.

[73] However, an anonymous senior US defense official told Reuters on 7 March that Russia still had the "vast majority" of its fighter jets and helicopters that had been amassed near Ukraine available to fly.

[77] On 13 March, Russian forces conducted multiple cruise missile attacks on a military training facility in Yavoriv, Lviv Oblast, close to the Polish border.

Ukrainian mid-range SAM sites force planes to fly low, making them vulnerable to Stinger and other shoulder-launched surface-to-air missiles, and lack of training and flight hours for Russian pilots renders them inexperienced for the type of close ground support missions typical of modern air forces.

"[81] On 14 March, Russian forces conducted multiple cruise missile attacks on a military training facility in Yavoriv, Lviv Oblast, close to the Polish border.

[84] On 16 May, US defense officials say that in the previous 24 hours Russians fired long-range missiles targeting military training facility near Lviv.

[100][101] On 28 February 2023, the Ukrainian military attacked the port of Tuapse with two uncrewed aerial vehicles (UAVs) causing a large fire at the Rosneft oil terminal.

It was reported by Naval News that the reach of Ukrainian forces across the Black Sea was growing with this long-range air attack over 430 km (270 mi) away from Ukrainian-controlled territory.

[105] On 10 March 2022, an unmanned drone crashed in Zagreb, the capital of Croatia, after flying through Hungarian and Romanian airspace.

[109][110][111] According to Ukraine's Operational Command South, Ukrainian rocket and artillery units attacked Russian positions on the left bank of the Dnipro River and in the area of the Kinburn Spit.

[119] Since that time that have been used in a number of attacks by the Ukrainian Air Force on strategic targets as a part of the war effort.

[126] On 23 August 2023, GRU released a video of two alleged elements of an S-400 battery being destroyed in Olenivka, Crimea, 120 km (75 mi) south of Kherson, by a barrage of Ukrainian missiles.

[134][135][136] During the winter and fall of 2022-2023, Russia engaged in a campaign of striking Ukrainian infrastructure, which included a widespread use of drones,[137][138][139][140][141] resulting in significant damage to Ukraine's electrical grid.

[152][153] Shahed-136 drones, which are hard for air defenses to intercept due to a flight path at low altitudes, have mostly been used by Russia to strike targets deep inside Ukrainian territory.

[159][160] In October 2023, The Economist reported that electronic warfare was in widespread use on frontlines to impair small battlefield UAV activity, with Russia installing video feedback and control jammers on high-value equipment like tanks and artillery.

[168] December 26, 2023, reportedly using air-launched cruise missiles, Ukraine's Air Force attacked the Novocherkassk, a major Russian landing craft docked in Feodosia, southern Crimea.

Independent analysts said the ship's loss would substantially impede future Russian attacks on Ukraine's coast.