Russian air force action increases despite flood of antiaircraft missiles into Ukraine

The air war over Ukraine appears to have entered a new phase, with the Russian air force boosting the number of flights it makes per day by 50 percent and deploying an increasing array of Russian drones and munitions over the battlefield, according to U.S. defense officials and military analysts.

The expansion comes after Ukraine shot down numerous aircraft early in the war and despite the United States and its allies sending thousands of man-portable air-defense systems, or MANPADS, to Ukraine.