>>25545332
Basically, Ukraine doesn't officially have NATO fighter jets flying their missions — at least not with NATO pilots or under NATO command. However, NATO countries have been sending Ukraine a ton of military aid, including older fighter jets like MiG-29s (which Ukraine already had from the Soviet era) and more recently, they've promised F-16 fighter jets (though those are just starting to arrive in small numbers).
The air power situation is super lopsided because Russia has way more planes, including more modern jets like the Su-35 and Su-57 (which is kind of their version of a stealth fighter, though it's not as advanced as American stealth jets like the F-35). But weirdly enough, the skies over Ukraine haven't been totally dominated by Russia. That's because Ukraine's air defense systems — mostly Western-supplied ones like Patriots and NASAMS — have been shooting down Russian planes, missiles, and drones pretty effectively.
So it's not like Top Gun dogfights happening every day — both sides are kind of afraid to fly too deep into enemy territory. Most of the fighting happens with drones, missiles, and artillery instead.
Long story short:
Ukraine doesn't have top-tier NATO jets (yet) but is slowly getting more advanced stuff.
Russia has better jets on paper, but air defense systems have made the airspace dangerous for both sides.
Drones are doing way more work than fighter jets, which is kind of a glimpse into what future wars might look like.
If Ukraine actually gets F-16s in big numbers with proper training, that could make things way harder for Russia — but we're not there yet.