Flew for the Ukrainian People’s Republic in the wars that followed the collapse of the Russian Empire.

Between 1917 and 1921 the short-lived Ukrainian People’s Republic assembled an air fleet from aircraft and airmen of the collapsing Russian imperial air service and from captured machines, with Viktor Pavlenko among its commanders. It flew in the War of Independence, the tangle of wars between Ukrainian, Soviet, White and Polish forces that ended with most of Ukraine in the Soviet Union. The sources checked for this page give no reliable figures for its size, sorties or losses, and none are invented here. The modern Ukrainian Air Force, created in 1992 from Soviet units, has no organisational link to it; the episode is included as the first time aircraft flew for a Ukrainian state.

Исход The Ukrainian People’s Republic was defeated and its air fleet disbanded in 1921.

Fleet size, aircraft types and losses were not confirmed; the opponents are named generally. Wikipedia’s article is thin and was used as a finding aid only.

Полет на

Air Fleet of the Ukrainian People’s Republic

Где

Украина

Наряду

Нет союзных военно-воздушных сил

Против

Soviet Russia and White Russian forces

Самолёт

Ex-imperial and captured aircraft, including German Fokker types

Источники

Википедия

Lost its Crimean base without a fight; in Donbas flew ground attack, transport, supply and reconnaissance for Ukrainian forces against Russian-backed separatists.

In February and March 2014 Russian forces took Crimea. At Belbek they blocked the 204th Tactical Aviation Brigade’s MiG-29s from 28 February and seized the base on 22 March; about half the brigade’s personnel went over to Russian service, according to Wikipedia’s history of the brigade, while 11 of its 21 pilots stayed with Ukraine. From 10 April Ukraine removed 43 MiG-29s and an L-39, most of them damaged, until Russia’s defence minister Sergei Shoigu halted the transfers. In Donbas the air force went into action in the spring. Its losses were heavy: on 14 June an Il-76MD approaching Luhansk was shot down with 40 paratroopers and nine crew; on 14 July an An-26 was shot down at about 6,500 metres, beyond the reach of shoulder-fired missiles; on 16 July Ukraine said an Su-25 had been hit by an air-to-air missile from a Russian MiG-29, which Russia’s defence ministry denied. On 17 July Malaysia Airlines Flight MH17 was destroyed with 298 people aboard. The Dutch Safety Board found in October 2015 that a Buk surface-to-air missile had caused it and that Ukraine had had sufficient reason to close the airspace over the east. The Joint Investigation Team identified the launcher as belonging to Russia’s 53rd Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade and the launch site near Pervomaiskyi; on 17 November 2022 the District Court of The Hague sentenced three men to life in absentia and acquitted a fourth. Russia has consistently denied involvement.

Исход Crimea remains under Russian control; the front in Donbas froze after the Minsk agreements until the full-scale invasion of 2022.

Russia rejects the MH17 findings and denied shooting down the Su-25. Ukrainian claims that Wagner commanders ordered the Il-76 shoot-down come from Ukraine’s Security Service and investigators and are unproven in court. The 2014 aircraft loss totals are from Wikipedia and mix services.

Полет на

ВВС Украины

Где

Crimea, Donetsk and Luhansk regions

Наряду

Нет союзных военно-воздушных сил

Против

Russian-backed separatist forces of the self-declared Donetsk and Luhansk "people’s republics" and Russia (Crimea; Ukraine’s government also accuses Russia of direct involvement in Donbas, which Russia denied)

Самолёт

Су-25, Su-24M, МиГ-29, Su-27, Il-76MD, An-26, An-30, Ми-8

Потери

Wikipedia’s summary counts about 20 aircraft shot down or lost in accidents in 2014, including six Su-25s, and 126 aircraft captured in Crimea, of which 92 were later returned; that total mixes services and could not be checked. The 204th brigade evacuated 43 MiG-29s and one L-39 from Belbek; 12 remained. The Il-76MD downed on 14 June 2014 killed 49.

Источники

Википедия · Википедия · Dutch Safety Board · Netherlands Public Prosecution Service · Википедия · Википедия · Википедия

Defends Ukrainian airspace with fighters and ground-based air defence against Russian aircraft, missiles and drones; flies strike missions with Su-24s, Su-25s and F-16s, including Storm Shadow and HARM launches.

Russia’s first strikes on 24 February 2022 — at least 160 missiles, by the account Wikipedia summarises, against 11 air bases and dozens of radar sites — were meant to destroy the air force on the ground. RUSI found that Ukraine had dispersed aircraft and air-defence systems hours before and kept flying. Its roughly 50 MiG-29s and 32 Su-27s were out-ranged by Russian fighters and missiles and often outnumbered, and lost several aircraft in air combat while inflicting some losses. The "Ghost of Kyiv" was a morale story, which Air Force Command itself described on 30 April 2022 as a legend. From 2023 the war became one of missiles and drones. Ukraine claimed two Russian A-50 radar aircraft over the Sea of Azov, on 14 January and 23 February 2024; Russia’s Investigative Committee later acknowledged the second. F-16s arrived in August 2024 and Mirage 2000s in February 2025, used above all against cruise missiles and drones. Ukraine’s General Staff claimed 370 Russian aircraft and 335 helicopters destroyed by 23 April 2025; these are one side’s figures and are not independently verified. By mid-2026 the shortage was interceptors: in July 2026 the Ministry of Defence reported 29 of 195 ballistic missiles intercepted.

Исход Продолжение.

Every loss and kill figure here is attributed: the General Staff and the President’s office speak for Ukraine and are not independently verified; Oryx counts only visually confirmed losses. The Kremlin calls the war a "special military operation". Current unit bases and aircraft counts are left out on purpose.

Полет на

ВВС Украины

Где

Ukraine, the Black Sea and the Sea of Azov

Наряду

Military aid from the United States, European and other states

Против

Россия

Самолёт

МиГ-29, Su-27, Su-24M/MR, Су-25, F-16AM/BM, Mirage 2000-5F, Л-39, Ми-8

Потери

Ukraine does not publish its aircraft losses. Oryx lists only losses confirmed by photographs or video and says real losses are higher; Forbes, citing such counts, put Ukraine’s losses at 69 aircraft by August 2023. Ukraine has itself announced the loss of at least five F-16s (three pilots killed) and one Mirage 2000 up to July 2026, as well as other crashes. Russia’s defence ministry publishes much higher claims, which were not reachable in an archived official form for this page and are not reproduced.

Источники

RUSI · Википедия · Википедия · Орикс · Kyiv Independent · Minfin.com.ua · Kyiv Independent · Kyiv Independent · Kyiv Independent · President of Ukraine · Kyiv Independent · Kyiv Independent · Kyiv Independent · Kyiv Independent · Kyiv Independent · Kyiv Independent · Kyiv Independent · Википедия