Putin’s air force ‘now only flying tens of missions after losing 60 war planes’

VLADIMIR PUTIN’S combat air force is now flying just “tens of missions” a day after losing more than 60 aircraft and coming under continued threat from Ukraine’s air defences, British defence chiefs said today.

- Nicolas Cecil

They believe Russian air attacks will remain limited throughout the winter. In its latest intelligence update, the Ministry of Defence said: “In recent months, the number of sorties conducted by Russian tactical combat aircraft over Ukraine has reduced significantly. Russian aircraft now probably conduct tens of missions per day, compared to a high of up to 300 per day in March 2022.

“Russia has now lost over 60 fixedwing aircraft in the conflict, likely including an additional Su-24M Fencer fighter-bomber and a Su-25 Frogfoot ground-attack aircraft last week.”