Why Even Shooting Down 26,000 Russian Threats Isn’t Enough to Protect Ukraine’s Skies

At 5 AM EET on February 24, 2022, millions of Ukrainians woke up to explosions as Russia bombarded cities with dozens of missiles simultaneously. Russia’s full-scale invasion had begun. Since then, Ukraine has been calling on its partners to help secure its airspace. Russia dominates the air with more aircraft, helicopters, and missiles and launches thousands of drones that strike homes, infrastructure, and energy facilities.

Russia has fired over 30,000 missiles and drones at Ukraine since the start of its full-scale war—bombardments not seen on this scale since World War II. Attacks intensified in 2024 as Russia boosted the production of Shahed drones. Meanwhile, Russian warplanes have increasingly deployed guided bombs to strike cities and Ukrainian military positions.

Ukraine has destroyed 26,525 Russian aerial threats over the past three years, thanks to support from its partners and the development of its own air defense forces. 

The effectiveness rate is impressive: more than 93% of all drones launched by Russia are shot down. The breakdown of intercepted targets by type is as follows:

• 40 Kh-47M2 Kinzhal aeroballistic missiles

• 95 Iskander-M/KN-23 ballistic missiles

• 550 Kalibr cruise missiles

• 95 Iskander-K cruise missiles

• 1,801 Kh-101/Kh-55SM/Kh-555 cruise missiles

• 460 Kh-59/Kh-69 guided air-to-surface missiles

• 25 missiles of other types

• 14,286 Shahed attack drones

• 6,900 reconnaissance drones

Ukraine has also successfully downed:

• 370 aircraft

• 331 helicopters

Notable operations include shooting down rare aircraft such as the Tu-22 bomber and the A-50U airborne early warning and control aircraft, of which Russia has relatively few. These complex, meticulously planned missions caught both Russia and Ukraine’s partners off guard—such achievements are unprecedented worldwide.

Western fighter jets, including F-16s and Mirage 2000s provided by European partners, have played a key role in downing Russian military targets. Overall, Ukrainian pilots have carried out 20,000 sorties: approximately 10,000 for striking Russian forces and over 12,000 for fighter cover operations.

Ukraine has also demonstrated the importance of electronic warfare (EW) in air defense. Recent Air Force reports note that some Shahed drones were not shot down but instead vanished from radar—what the military calls “location lost.” This indicates that advanced EW systems disabled and grounded the drones. Previously, drones could only be taken down with costly missiles. Today, up to 50% of Russian UAVs are neutralized using EW measures.

Despite these impressive numbers, Ukraine still needs to strengthen its air defenses. However, even that would not fully protect the skies from one of Russia’s most dangerous weapons—guided aerial bombs. This weapon is both simple and inexpensive, and current defense systems offer few ways to intercept it. Furthermore, in 2024, Russia launched an intercontinental ballistic missile at Ukraine—something the country has no system to defend against. The United States, which possesses such advanced defense systems, has not announced any plans to supply them to Ukraine.