Ukraine's intelligence says Russia has nearly 300 combat aircraft to target Ukraine

Defence Intelligence of Ukraine (DIU) has estimated that Russia likely has nearly 300 combat aircraft to target Ukraine.

Source: Vadym Skibitskyi, Deputy Chief of DIU, in an interview with Interfax-Ukraine news agency

Quote: "The enemy has a lot (of aircraft – ed.). Let's just say that today, Russia can and does have almost 300 combat aircraft against us."

Details: The intelligence officer stressed that Ukrainian forces had recently shot down a major target – a Russian A-50 airborne warning and control system (AWACS) aircraft.

"Back then, the Russians had to change the combat duty area but lost their reconnaissance range here. This is extremely positive for us. In other words, if earlier the Russians could see as far as Kyiv from Azov, now they cannot reach Kyiv with their reconnaissance assets from Krasnodar Krai. They are afraid to get closer," a DIU official explained.

Skibitskyi noted that F-16 fighter jets, which will soon be transferred to Ukraine, are one of the tools that will allow the destruction of Russian aircraft used for bombing strikes. At the same time, he stressed that "the Russians have set themselves the task of destroying both our aircraft and infrastructure".

"For three days in a row, the enemy has been bombing Kanatove airfield (near the city of Kropyvnytskyi) using ballistic missiles. That's exactly the kind of approach the enemy is taking to prevent us from deploying our aircraft there," he stressed.

Background: 

• Yurii Ihnat, spokesman for the Air Force of Ukraine, reported that despite significant losses in the war against Ukraine, Russia still has a large fleet of aircraft and the capacity to produce about several aircraft a year, in addition to repairing old ones.
• Over the past five days, the Ukrainian Air Force has downed seven Russian aircraft on the eastern front.

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