'Shortcomings of Russia's air force leave its ground troops exhausted'

RUSSIA'S air force has underperformed during the Ukraine war leaving its ground troops "exhausted," British defence chiefs said today.

- Nicholas Cecil

The shortcomings were said to be a key factor in the limited success being achieved by Moscow in the conflict, which is set to enter its fifth month.

The Ministry of Defence in London said that the Russian president had developed a fleet of "modern and capable combat jets" but this was not being matched by the "skill sets" or "institutional culture" as achieved by some air forces in the West.

Some of this failure was down to its air combat training focusing on impressing senior officers rather than encouraging crews to develop "dynamic initiative", it argued.