Pentagon: Most of Ukraine Air Force maintains combat capability

DENYS KARLOVSKY - FRIDAY, MARCH 4, 2022, 23:58

According to a senior US Defence Ministry official, Ukraine has managed to keep most of its Air Force in combat readiness for the ninth day of a full-scale war with Russia.

Source: Reuters, with a comment from an unnamed Pentagon official

Verbatim of the official: "Ukrainians still have most of their Air Force in combat readiness: including aeroplanes, helicopters, drones and air defence systems."

Details: The official said that the Ukrainian Armed Forces nonetheless had suffered partial losses due to fighting off the Russian occupiers. However, he did not name specific amounts of losses on the Ukrainian side.

Since most of the Ukrainian Air Force is in combat readiness, Russian aggressors risk destruction when flying in Ukrainian skies. 

US Military experts do not hide their surprise at this, since the Russians had planned to destroy most or all of the Ukraine Air Force in the first hours of the attack, with missile strikes. In addition, the Russian Air Force outnumbers the Ukrainian Air Force in both quantitative and qualitative terms.

According to the American official, this fact significantly increased the moral and psychological state of Ukrainian troops and citizens alike, despite the fierce fighting taking place.