UK defense ministry says Ukraine holding its airspace

By AP 20 March 2022, 5:46 am

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Ukrainian air force Su-27 fighter jet is in the sky outside Slovyansk, 160 kilometers (100 miles) from the Russian border, in eastern Ukraine, on, April 15, 2014. Ukraine's President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has made a “desperate” plea to the United States to help Kyiv get more warplanes to fight Russia's invasion. (AP Photo/Alexander Ermochenko, File)

The British defense ministry says the Ukrainian Air Force and air defense forces are “continuing to effectively defend Ukrainian airspace.”

“Russia has failed to gain control of the air and is largely relying on stand-off weapons launched from the relative safety of Russian airspace to strike targets within Ukraine,” the ministry says on Twitter.

Latest Defence Intelligence update on the situation in Ukraine – 19 March 2022

Find out more about the UK government's response: https://t.co/2whpSpRbwX

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“Gaining control of the air was one of Russia’s principal objectives for the opening days of the conflict and their continued failure to do so has significantly blunted their operational progress.”