Lesya Leshchenko16:21, 01.11.26
Before the full-scale invasion, Ukraine had approximately 130 military aircraft, with another 82 transferred by foreign partners.
Since the start of the full-scale invasion, Russian forces have allegedly destroyed 674 Ukrainian aircraft . However, this figure significantly exceeds the total number of aircraft that Ukraine had at the beginning of the war and received from international partners.
This is reported by Forbes . In particular, according to the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS), before the start of the full-scale invasion, Ukraine had approximately 130 military aircraft. Another 82 machines were transferred by foreign partners, and 99 additional aircraft were promised to be delivered. Thus, even taking into account all the promised deliveries, the total number of aircraft does not come close to 674.
At the same time, the independent Oryx project, which records the losses of military equipment using photo and video evidence, documented 122 lost Ukrainian aircraft.
Forbes notes that significant discrepancies are observed in Russian reports regarding other categories of weapons as well.
“These discrepancies highlight the difficulty of accurately assessing battlefield casualties, the possibility of deliberate overstatement in reports, and the role of information warfare in shaping perceptions of the conflict,” the publication writes.Read also:
The biggest discrepancies between Russian data and the actual number of equipment in Ukraine concern artillery and armored vehicles. In particular, the Russian Federation claimed to have destroyed 36,845 units of Ukrainian artillery – more than 10 times the total number of artillery systems that Ukraine had at its disposal throughout the war. Independent observers documented 1,302 losses.
Moscow also claims to have destroyed 31,467 Ukrainian tanks and armored vehicles, while Oryx confirms 5,132 such losses.
The publication emphasizes that while the discrepancies regarding artillery and armored vehicles are more extensive, the data regarding aviation raises additional questions about the reliability of Russian statements.
“Unlike many types of ground equipment, combat aircraft are extremely valuable assets: their losses have more serious consequences and are easier to document. After the destruction of an aircraft, identifiable debris or other evidence – such as reports of the death of pilots or their ejection – remains, which helps to confirm the fact of the loss,” the material says.
(C)UNIAN 2026