Posted on Saturday, or maybe Friday
from
https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2022/3/4/us-ukraine-has-significant-majority-of-its-military-aircraft

(I do not understand it. In the very early days of the
1991 Persian Gulf War, the Iraqi Air Force was devastated
by the United States, the United Kingdom and their allies.
Why has Big Russia not destroyed all Ukraine AF facilities
by airpower?)

US: Ukraine has ‘significant majority’ of its military aircraft

NATO rules out ‘no-fly’ zone as Russian forces threaten Kyiv and
Odesa, bombard cities of Mariupol and Kherson.

Wreckage of a Russian Air Force combat fighter is seen in a field
outside the town of Volnovakha in the Donetsk region [Ukraine Joint
Forces Operation/Handout via Reuters]
Published On 4 Mar 2022
4 Mar 2022

Ukraine still has a “significant majority” of its military aircraft
available nine days after Russian forces started their invasion of the
country, a United States defence official told the Reuters news service
on Friday.

Vastly outmatched by Russia’s military in terms of numbers and
firepower, the fact that Ukraine’s own air force is still flying and its
air defenses are still deemed to be viable has surprised military experts.

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“The Ukrainians still have a significant majority of their air combat
power available to them, both fixed-wing and rotary wing as well as
unmanned systems and surface-to-air systems,” the official said,
speaking on condition of anonymity.

The official added that Ukrainian aircraft had suffered some losses,
including being destroyed by Russian forces, but did not give details.
After the opening salvos of the war on February 24, analysts expected
the Russian military to try to immediately destroy Ukraine’s air force
and air defenses.

Russia has fired more than 500 missiles at Ukrainian targets since the
start of the invasion, but is still flying through contested airspace.

Ukrainian troops with surface-to-air rockets are able to threaten
Russian aircraft and create risk to Russian pilots trying to support
ground forces. Ukraine’s ability to keep flying air force jets is a
visible demonstration of the country’s resilience in the face of attack
and has been a morale booster, both to its own military and Ukraine’s
people, experts say.

Two Tu-22M3 bombers escorted by Su-35 fighters of the Russian air force
fly during military drills in Belarus leading up to the attack on
Ukraine from the north [File: Alexander Zemlianichenko Jr/AP Photo]
No ‘no-fly’ zone

The Pentagon has established a new hotline with Russia’s ministry of
defence to prevent “miscalculation, military incidents and escalation”
in the region as Russia’s invasion of Ukraine advances.

The “deconfliction” hotline would be an open phone line based at the US
European Command’s headquarters and would fall under Air Force General
Tod Wolters, who leads all US forces on the continent.

“In our initial test of it, (the Russians) answered the phone,” the
official said.

NATO is refusing to impose a no-fly zone over Ukraine. The leaders of
the 30-nation military organization believe that such a move could
provoke widespread war in Europe with nuclear power Russia.

“We understand the desperation, but we also believe that if we did that,
we end up with something that could end in a full-fledged war in Europe
involving many more countries and causing much more human suffering,”
NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said on Friday.

People fleeing Russia’s invasion of Ukraine crowd on a platform to board
a train as they leave the city of Odesa on March 4, 2022 [Igor
Tkachenko/Reuters]
The United States on Friday defended NATO’s decision echoing its
position that such a measure could cause the conflict to spread to more
countries.

“We have a responsibility to ensure the war does not spill over beyond
Ukraine … A no-fly zone could lead to a full-fledged war in Europe,” US
Secretary of State Antony Blinken told reporters in Brussels.

In a video address earlier this week, Ukrainian President Volodymyr
Zelenskyy had urged Western nations to consider such a measure to stop
any further bombardment by Russia.

Russian advances
Russian troops on Friday were still about 25km (16 miles) from the
centre of Kyiv, Ukraine’s capital, a distance largely unchanged over the
past few days. Frequent shelling could be heard from the center of the
city as battles involving air attacks and artillery raged northwest of Kyiv.

Heavy fighting continued on the outskirts of the strategic port of
Mariupol, knocking out the city’s electricity, heat and water systems,
and most phone service. Food deliveries were also cut, according to the
Associated Press.

Ukrainians were fleeing the port city of Odesa as Ukrainian officials
warned Russia was preparing to conduct an amphibious assault like the
one around Mariupol, involving naval infantry and ground forces
attacking from the north out of Donetsk.

“So one could see a scenario where that’s a similar play,” the US
official told Reuters.

After heavy shelling, Russian forces have captured the southern city of
Kherson, a vital Black Sea port of 280,000 — the first major city to fall.

Tanks entered Kherson, a provincial capital, and Russian forces occupied
the regional administration building, regional governor Hennadiy Laguta
said in an online post on Thursday. Russian armored vehicles were seen
in the otherwise empty streets of Kherson, in videos shared with the AP
by a resident.

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