Ukraine has managed to preserve approximately 80% of the potential of its Air Force.

A high-ranking Pentagon official shared this with CNN, Militarnyi reports.

Ukrainians have 56 fighter jets at their disposal.

According to the official, the Ukrainian Air Force makes 5 to 10 flights a day. Meanwhile, the Russians – up to 200.

The Ukrainians again have been very creative in how they’re defending themselves and how they’re using the airpower they have available to them. Frankly, they haven’t proven they need to do more than what they’re doing. They’ve been very effective with the tools that they have, very creatively so. And those are having a good effect on Russian air power,” the official said.

Pentagon points out that Ukrainians are using drones extremely effectively. Especially considering they are cheaper and can fly unnoticed by Russian radars.

The official highlighted the effectiveness of using the UAVs against the Russian ground forces.

Pentagon has also praised Ukrainians for using surface-to-air missile systems. The official noted that Ukrainian anti-aircraft units are very mobile and attentive towards each aim. He also noted the effectiveness of using the shoulder fire surface-to-air systems.