Air Force
The fixed-wing combat arm within the Aerospace Forces — fighter, strike, army, transport and long-range aviation.
Broad area of activity
Operating from Russian airspace across the theatre.
Notable history
Failed to suppress Ukrainian air defences in 2022 and was pushed back from the front; adapted with mass standoff attack — above all the UMPK glide-bomb campaign carried by Su-34s from 2023 — while suffering publicly documented losses of scarce special-mission aircraft in 2024.
Strengths
Airframe and munitions mass; the glide-bomb adaptation converted a stalemated air war into persistent battlefield pressure at low risk.
Limitations
Still no air superiority after years of war; vulnerable to air-defence ambushes; attrition of crews and of scarce enablers like AEW&C aircraft.
Subordinate & associated
- Long-Range Aviation Formation
Campaigns
Campaigns naming this organisation as a participant. The campaign record owns the relationship and grades it; this list is computed.
- The Ukrainian deep-strike campaign Affected party · Since 2022 · moderate confidence · as of 2026-06
Airfields hosting the aircraft used in strikes against Ukraine have been a recurring target class.
Key events
Avdiivka falls; Kursk incursion
Russia takes Avdiivka at heavy cost and presses in Donbas; Ukraine answers with a surprise incursion into Russia's Kursk region.
Assessed as of2026-07Last reviewed2026-07
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