Russia's military prowess implies that along with quick ground victories, the Russian air force should have been able swiftly to take control of the skies.
Going into the conflict, Russia's 1,391 aircraft to Ukraine's 132 —complemented by 948 helicopters to Kyiv's 55 — have yet to give Putin the kind of aerial dominance required to eliminate Ukraine's resistance. Russia's overall defense budget of $45.8 billion is almost 10 times that of its neighbor.

See the CNN chart above. Buy no war os ever on the superiority of the forces.