Ukraine also has kept its much smaller air force made of Soviet-made Sukhoi and Mig-29 jets away from the front line and used them to launch missiles from large distances to minimize losses. Moscow’s failure to win control of Ukrainian airspace was one of the biggest surprises of the war. Russia has relied on long-range ballistic and cruise missiles to strike targets deep in Ukraine, avoiding a risk to its warplanes after losing many of them in the initial stages of the invasion. To defend against those barrages, the West has sent Ukraine the Patriot and the Avenger air defense systems.Īt $4 million per round, Patriot missiles are meant to shield against larger ballistic missile attacks, leaving simpler weapons to deal with the cheap, slow-flying Iranian exploding drones often used by the Russians.Įven with these new air defense systems, Ukraine has struggled to protect its territory against daily Russian attacks. Throughout the war, Russia has rained missiles down on Ukrainian cities and infrastructure almost daily.
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