Ninety per cent of Ukraine's military aerodromes containing the majority of the country's Air Force have been knocked out of operation, said Russian Defence Ministry spokesperson Igor Konashenkov on Wednesday.
He further added that part of Ukraine's fleet of aircraft has flown to Romania and is not taking part in any combat. "At the start of the special operation, the Ukrainian Air Force had as many as 250 serviceable combat aircraft and helicopters. Russia's Aerospace Forces have destroyed 89 combat aircraft and 57 helicopters on the ground and in the air," Konashenkov said in a briefing.
According to Konashenkov, Ukraine's Air Force has also nearly completely run out of first and second class military pilots, reported Sputnik.
The MoD spokesman added that Russia has destroyed 81 radar stations from Ukraine's air defence troops, causing a loss of battlefield control and a dramatic deterioration in the country's air defence capabilities.
He commented that Ukraine's air defence troops have been reduced to only a local capability to resist. Russian forces have destroyed a total of 2,786 pieces of Ukrainian military infrastructure since the start of the operation, Konashenkov said.
49 facilities, among them two command and control points, six air defence systems, four caches of ammunition and fuel, and 37 areas of concentration of military equipment were destroyed in the course of operations Wednesday.
Sharing the details of the losses that Ukraine has incurred since the war started in Ukraine, the MoD spokesman said Ukrainian losses include 953 tanks and other armoured vehicles, 101 rocket artillery systems, 351 pieces of artillery and mortar systems, 718 military vehicles, and 93 drones.
He also indicated that 137 Ukrainian S-125, S-300 and Buk-M1 air defence systems had been destroyed, with these losses constituting over 90 per cent of Ukraine's air defence systems, reported Sputnik.
Commenting on NATO's ongoing support for Ukraine, MoD said the alliance's reconnaissance aircraft are carrying out round-the-clock flights over Polish airspace. He claimed that NATO's aircraft are looking into Ukrainian airspace and passing this information on to the Ukrainian military's leadership.
This comes against the backdrop of Russian forces launching military operations in Ukraine on February 24, three days after Moscow recognized Ukraine's breakaway regions - Donetsk and Luhansk - as independent entities.
( With inputs from ANI )
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