While much of the focus of the war in Ukraine has been on the ground struggle, the effort to command the skies is just as critical. The BBC has been granted an exclusive interview with a Ukrainian air defence officer regarding the country’s war for control of its skies.

Captain Vasyl Kravchuk has an uncharacteristically ready smile for a guy who has just survived 50 days of combat. We communicated with him through a video link from his hidden hideout.

He is well aware that the approaching weeks will bring no reprieve. Russia may have suffered a bloody nose in its failed attempt to seize Kyiv, but with the Eastern Donbas region now squarely in Moscow’s sights, the men and women of Dnipro’s Anti-Aircraft Missile Brigade will continue to play a critical role in the war’s next phase.

Defending Ukraine’s airspace from Russian air raids has already proven difficult. As one Ukrainian air defence officer said to the BBC, it’s like attempting to wield a gigantic fly swatter with numerous holes.

“We can’t cover the whole airspace,” Capt Kravchuk says simply.

The fact that he is even sitting here chatting to us is astonishing – all the more so given that “many air defence facilities were destroyed full or partial” during the war’s early days.

It is a rare public admission by Ukrainian forces that they sustained substantial losses during the war’s early phases.

Despite these losses, the remaining air defences have been put to good use.

Oryx, which has been visually verifying military losses throughout the fight, reports that Ukraine has destroyed, damaged, or captured at least 82 Russian aircraft, including jets, helicopters, and drones.

Ukraine has suffered 33 comparable aircraft losses.

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