Russia has lost twice as many aircraft in Ukraine than Afghanistan, Kyiv military chief says

Russia has lost more than twice the number of aircraft in Ukraine than in the Soviet-Afghan war, the Commander-in-Chief of the Ukrainian Armed Forces has said.

In an update on Twitter, the UK's Ministry of Defence said while it could not independently verify the figures, "this amounts to 278 aircraft lost in Ukraine compared to 119 in Afghanistan".

"Russia's continued lack of air superiority is likely exacerbated by poor training, loss of experienced crews, and heightened risks of conducting close air support in dense air defence zones," the update said.

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"This is unlikely to change in the next few months. 

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"Russia's aircraft losses likely significantly outstrip their capacity to manufacture new airframes.

"The time required for the training of competent pilots further reduces Russia's ability to regenerate combat air capability."

It comes after Iran acknowledged sending drones to Russia, but said it was before the war in Ukraine.

Russia has used Iranian Shahed-136 drones to attack civilian infrastructure across Ukraine.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky accused Iran of 'lying' and 'terrorist co-operation' after Tehran admitted to supplying the drones to Moscow.