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Ukraine’s unfriendly skies: On day 101 of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, the Russian military is pushing hard in the Donbas, but the Ukrainian forces are putting up a stiff fight. The Russian Air Force Over Ukraine. In its daily estimate of the war, the British Ministry of Defense focused on the Russian Aerospace Forces. Russian military aviation has seen a lot of discussion in the war. More than 100 days into the conflict, and the Russian air force has failed to achieve air superiority over the Ukrainian skies. “Russian air activity remains high over contested ground in the Donbas with Russian aircraft conducting strikes using both guided and unguided munitions. Russia’s inability to suppress or destroy Ukrainian strategic air defence systems in the opening days of the conflict limited its ability to provide tactical air support to ground manoeuvre elements, contributing to the failure to advance on Kyiv,” the British Military Intelligence assessed. As a result, the Russian air force has to rely on long-range fires thru stand-off munitions, such as cruise missiles. In the ongoing fighting in the Donbas, the Russian Aerospace Forces are supporting Russian ground troops primarily through close air support. “With its operational focus switching to the Donbas, Russia has been able to increase its employment of tactical air to support its creeping advance, combining airstrikes and massed artillery fires to bring its overwhelming firepower to bear,” the British Military Intelligence stated. But the increased usage of long-range fires translates into more collateral damage and civilian casualties. Footage from the ground in the Donbas shows entire Ukrainian villages, and small towns utterly destroyed by the indiscriminate use of long-range fires by the Russian military. “The combined use of air and artillery strikes has been a key factor in Russia’s recent tactical successes in the region. The increased use of unguided munitions has led to the widespread destruction of built-up areas in the Donbas, and has almost certainly caused substantial collateral damage and civilian casualties,” the British Ministry of Defense added.