- Service ensign · official
- State affiliation · Russia
- Vigil category device · not official insignia
Identity provenance
Service ensign: Flag of the Russian Air Force. The service flag of the Air Force, adopted 2004 and retained when the Air Force became a branch of the VKS. The design itself is not an object of copyright: Article 1259(6) of the Civil Code of the Russian Federation excludes official symbols and signs. The file shipped is the Wikimedia Commons SVG "Flag of the Russian Air Force.svg", released under PD-RU-exempt on that basis, so no attribution or share-alike obligation attaches. Optimised for web display; geometry unaltered.
State affiliation: Russia.
The smaller square mark is a Vigil category device, drawn from this record’s own domain, echelon and role — not an official insignia.
In brief
The fixed-wing combat arm within the Aerospace Forces — fighter, strike, army, transport and long-range aviation.
- Scope
- Structure, role, lineage and links. 1 subordinate record published.
- Subordination
- Subordination confirmed
- Sources
- 4 on the record
- Record state
- Partial
Broad area of activity
Operating from Russian airspace across the theatre.
Notable history
Failed to suppress Ukrainian air defences in 2022 and was pushed back from the front; adapted with mass standoff attack — above all the UMPK glide-bomb campaign carried by Su-34s from 2023 — while suffering publicly documented losses of scarce special-mission aircraft in 2024.
Strengths
Airframe and munitions mass; the glide-bomb adaptation converted a stalemated air war into persistent battlefield pressure at low risk.
Limitations
Still no air superiority after years of war; vulnerable to air-defence ambushes; attrition of crews and of scarce enablers like AEW&C aircraft.
Subordinate formations
Rows are layout only — position and order carry no hierarchy, importance, sequence or strength. Every record shown is an immediate subordinate of the selected organisation.
Campaigns
Campaigns naming this organisation as a participant. The campaign record owns the relationship and grades it; this list is computed.
- The Ukrainian deep-strike campaign Affected party · Since 2022 · moderate confidence · as of 2026-06
Airfields hosting the aircraft used in strikes against Ukraine have been a recurring target class.
Key events
Avdiivka falls; Kursk incursion
Russia takes Avdiivka at heavy cost and presses in Donbas; Ukraine answers with a surprise incursion into Russia's Kursk region.
Quick actions
System access
Where this record connects into the rest of Vigil. Each row is here because this organisation actually reaches it.
Assessed as of2026-07Last reviewed2026-07
See this force in the structure Interactive: select this record and follow what connects to it.