Russia’s failure thus far to win complete control of Ukrainian airspace has been a surprise, given Russian military strength and the importance of dominating the skies.
FILE - The Ukrainian Antonov-225 Mriya , the world's heaviest and largest aircraft, makes a test landing at the new runway at the airport in Donetsk, Ukraine on July 26, 2011. Ukraine's defense industry conglomerate says the world's largest plane that was in regular operation was heavily damaged in fighting with Russian troops at the airport outside Kyiv where it was parked. Ukraine
A possible explanation for Russia's failure to do so is that President Vladimir Putin built his war strategy on an assumption that Ukrainian defenses would easily fold, allowing Russian forces to quickly capture Kyiv, the capital, and crush Ukrainian forces in the east and south without having to achieve air superiority.
When he announced his decision to attack on Feb. 24, Putin gave no timetable for completing what he called not a war but a"special military operation." By U.S. estimates he had assembled more than 150,000 troops on Ukraine's borders. In Breedlove's view, the weaponry provided to Ukraine by the United States and many other countries in recent weeks, including Javelin anti-tank missiles, has given Kyiv an important boost. He recalled that when Western countries in 2014 began providing radars used to detect and pinpoint the origin of artillery and mortar attacks, some questioned whether the Ukrainians could make good use of them.
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