Question to the Ministry of Defence:

To ask the Secretary of State for Defence, what assessment his Department has made of the effectiveness of Ukrainian defence against Russian aggression.

Ukraine continues to conduct a highly effective defence against Russia's invasion. On the ground, it holds Russian forces along a 1,200km front. In the air, it has effectively neutralised Russia's theoretically overwhelming advantage in air power through the skilled use of ground-based air defences. At sea, Ukraine's limited naval forces have had remarkable success to preventing Russia's Black Sea Fleet from conducting its sea control mission in key parts of the Black Sea. Ukraine has recaptured approximately half of the extra territory Russia seized after 24 February 2022. Ukraine experiences pressures on its own military resources, but it has inflicted huge losses on Russia. The Russian military has suffered up to 200,000 casualties, and nearly 10,000 of its military vehicles have been verified as lost.