Ukrainian pilot on the race to prevent Russia gaining full control of the skies above

“Many Russian pilots refuse to fight, because we are shooting them down,” he claims.

Andriy agreed to speak to us under the condition that his full identity, rank and location — information that could help the Russian military target him — are not revealed. He flies Russian-made Su-27 jets.

“I provide back up and cover for the aviation that is working at covering the ground. I focus on destroying missiles and enemy aviation, like air to air,” he explained. “I can’t tell you how many, but I’ve shot down Russian jets.”

So far, he and his fellow airmen have been able to hold off Russia’s apparent superiority with careful planning and cunning tactics. Andriy doesn’t go into detail about what those strategies entail, but says they involve close coordination with other Ukrainian forces, and taking some extreme risks.

And some of the moves they are employing on the battlefield are the result of training with the United States and other NATO allies.

“A few years ago, we had exercise ‘Clear Sky’ here in Ukraine and we flew alongside F-15 and F-16 jets,” Andriy recalled. “At the time we have developed certain tactics to deter fighter jets and I can tell you that some of those tactics really work.”

The strategy is one part of the secret; the other is the pilots who are putting into practice.

“I wouldn’t say their pilots’ level of training is very high,” Andriy said. “Since our foreign partners started to send us air defense equipment of different types, such as midrange and close range, we’ve became more confident in the air.”

“Many Russian pilots now refuse to be deployed because they are scared,” he adds.

The battle for Ukrainian skies

The skies above Ukraine remain up for grabs, nearly a month after Russian jets first flew into Ukrainian airspace.

“We don’t believe the Russians have achieved air superiority over Ukraine,” Pentagon spokesman John Kirby told journalists on Tuesday.

“The airspace is contested, and it’s contested because the Ukrainians are making it that way,” he said. “They’re being very smart about how they’re marshaling and using their air defense resources.”

The Ukrainian military says the reason it’s been able to fight back is because it was preparing for the possibility of a Russian invasion long before Russian soldiers started their march on Kyiv.

“We have been preparing for this scenario for eight years,” said the spokesman for the Ukrainian Air Force, Lt. Col. Yuriy Ignat, adding that preparations began when Moscow occupied and then annexed Crimea in spring 2014. “These eight years we have been learning how to beat the enemy with the weapons that we have. And they understand it.”

“It’s why now they’re switching to terror from the air,” he added, accusing Russia of targeting civilian infrastructure. “They drop bombs of 500 to 1,000 kilograms, they hit entire residential areas with children, women, hospitals. It looks like military terrorism and a crime against humanity.”

Russia routinely denies causing civilian casualties in Ukraine. International media and observers have extensively documented civilian casualties and damage to civilian infrastructure. International investigations into possible war crimes are ongoing.

Ignat says Ukraine is “grateful” to the United States and other NATO allies for the weapons they’ve been sending, but says his country needs more and better weapons.

“Russia is fighting with modern weapons — missiles, hypersonic missiles. Therefore, we need Western weapons that are technologically as good as Russian ones. I am talking about NATO Integrated Air Defense System, F-15 Eagle or F-16 Fighting Falcon. They may be not used or decommissioned — but they could serve the Ukrainian army,” he…