The more than 140,000 aerial targets shot down by Ukraine in four years of Russian invasion

Today marks four years since the start of the large-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, an aggression that began on February 24, 2022.

V2X Tempest, the vehicle with Longbow missiles used by Ukraine to shoot down drones
The new tactics implemented by the Ukrainian Air Force with its F-16 fighters

Although some predicted that Ukraine would be unable to defend itself and would be defeated in a matter of days or weeks, the Ukrainian defenders have demonstrated an admirable capacity for resistance against a vastly superior enemy, thwarting Putin's plans to seize control of the entire country and install a puppet government in Kyiv. These past four years have served to expose Russia's weaknesses, whose enormous material losses are forcing it to resort to obsolete Soviet-era equipment that has been stored for decades in the most remote areas of Russian territory.

Unable to achieve his objectives with this invasion, Putin has resorted to sowing terror among the Ukrainian population, directing constant attacks against civilian targets (residential buildings, hospitals, kindergartens, temples, schools, universities, etc.), attempting to force Ukraine to surrender through the deliberate killing of unarmed men, women, and children, which is a war crime.

Putin's plans with this campaign of terror are also failing thanks to the tenacious Ukrainian resistance and Western aid to the attacked country. Ukraine has been receiving various air defense systems, from MiG-29, F-16, and Mirage 2000 fighter jets to anti-aircraft artillery systems that include missiles and cannons.

Furthermore, Ukraine has developed an anti-drone barrier, the Bukovel-AD, which electronically interferes with the systems of Russian attack drones. Interceptor drones are also being successfully developed, thus reducing the cost of these operations. All these weapons systems are preventing the death toll from Russian attacks from being higher. From the perspective of Western countries, this military aid demonstrates the usefulness of our taxes.

This Tuesday, the Ukrainian Air Force released a video showcasing some of these air defense systems and the numbers of the more than 140,000 aerial targets they have shot down (not including manned aircraft and helicopters):

Since the video contains text in Ukrainian, I am providing below the details of those figures for Russian aerial targets shot down by Ukraine:

• 86 aeroballistic missiles Kh-47 M2 Kinzhal.
• 709 Kalibr cruise missiles.
• 2,459 Kh-101 cruise missiles.
• 13 Kh-22/Kh-32 cruise missiles.
• 12 Onyx anti-ship missiles.
• 261 Iskander-K cruise missiles.
• 274 ballistic missiles Iskander-M/KN-23.
• 11 Zircon anti-ship missiles.
• 30 missiles of other types.
• 540 missiles guided aerial vehicles.
• 44,700 Shahed attack unmanned aerial vehicles.
• 14,900 reconnaissance unmanned aerial vehicles.
• 7,500 Lancet unmanned aerial vehicles.
• 70,300 other types of unmanned aerial vehicles.

Furthermore, the Ukrainian Air Force has indicated that in these four years it carried out 26,800 air missions, which include 11,000 missions for firefighting and air support to troops and 14,000 missions for air cover with fighter jets.

It should also be noted that Ukraine has already successfully carried out air operations against Russian territory, hitting military and strategic targets with missiles and drones. These attacks are demonstrating the vulnerabilities of Russia's defenses and the priorities of the Kremlin, which, unlike Ukraine, dedicates more resources to killing Ukrainian civilians than to defending its own territory, perhaps believing that Ukrainian forces would be unable to reach it.

Of course, Ukraine has the right to attack those targets on Russian territory, just as the Allies had the right to attack military and strategic targets on German soil during World War II. It is Putin who has brought the war to his own country with this invasion of a neighboring country.

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Main photo: Ukrainian Air Force.