By Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Ukraine still has a “significant majority” of its military air force on hand nine days after Russian forces began their invasion of the country, a U.S. defense official said on Friday.
Vastly inferior to Russia’s army in terms of raw numbers and firepower, the fact that Ukraine’s own air force is still in the air and its air defenses are still considered viable surprised military experts.
“The Ukrainians still have a significant majority of their air combat force available to them, both fixed-wing and rotary-wing, as well as unmanned and surface-to-air systems,” the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
The official added that Ukraine had lost some aircraft, also destroyed by Russian forces, but did not provide details.
After the start of the war on February 24, analysts expected the Russian army to immediately attempt to destroy Ukraine’s air force and air defense system.
Russia still flies over disputed airspace.
Ukrainian troops with surface-to-air missiles could threaten Russian planes and pose a risk to Russian pilots trying to support ground forces.
(Reporting by Phil Stewart and Idrees Ali)
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