Air Force
Fighter aviation and ground-based air defence — never ceded the sky, never controlled it.
Broad area of activity
Nationwide air defence of cities and infrastructure; dispersed fighter operations from airfields across unoccupied Ukraine.
Notable history
Survived the opening strikes of 2022 by dispersing aircraft within hours and has denied Russia air superiority ever since — the failure that shaped the entire war. Fought for two years on Soviet-era MiG-29s and Su-27s adapted to carry Western missiles, then began the F-16 era in August 2024. Its ground-based air-defence network, from legacy S-300s to Patriot, defends the cities through every winter strike campaign.
Strengths
Dispersal and deception mastery — a smaller air force that refused to be destroyed on the ground; an increasingly integrated Western air-defence network; Patriot crews among the most combat-experienced against ballistic targets anywhere.
Limitations
Fleet size and pilot pipeline restrict sortie rates; airfields are under persistent missile threat; interceptor stocks depend on Western resupply politics; contested at long range by Russian fighters firing very-long-range missiles from sanctuary airspace.
Subordinate & associated
- Air Command Centre Formation
- Air Command East Formation
- Air Command South Formation
- Air Command West Formation
- 40th Tactical Aviation Brigade Formation
- 831st Tactical Aviation Brigade Formation
- Surface-to-Air Missile Forces Branch
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 Supporting force · Since 2022 · moderate confidence · as of 2026-06
Delivery platform for supplied stand-off missiles, whose use has been governed by partner restrictions rather than by capability alone.
- The strategic campaign against Ukraine's electricity system Opposing force · Since October 2022 · high confidence · as of 2026-06
Campaign involvement
Strategic campaign against Ukraine's grid begins
Massed missile and Shahed-drone salvos against power infrastructure open a recurring seasonal campaign to break civilian endurance through winter darkness and cold.
Assessed as of2026-06Last reviewed2026-06
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