Short answers, pulled from the story.
The Russian Air Force officially established itself on the 12th of August 1912 as part of the Imperial Russian Air Service. This date marks one of the earliest military aviation units globally, though early development slowed due to World War I constraints.
During the 1990s financial stringency made its mark on the VVS as well and pilots sometimes could not get wages for months. Four MiG-31 pilots at Yelizovo in the Far East went on hunger strike in 1996 to demand back pay which was several months overdue. In 1998 altogether 580 units and formations were disbanded while 134 were reorganized.
In 2007 the VVS resumed Soviet-era practice of deploying strategic bomber aircraft on long-range patrols after a 15-year unilateral suspension due to fuel costs and economic difficulties after collapse of Soviet Union. Patrols towards North Pole Atlantic and Pacific Ocean reinstated bringing planes often close to NATO territory.
According to Ukrainian MoD as of the 16th of March 2022 VVS suffered at least 77 aircraft losses though only 12 verified by independent sources at time. Failure attributed to lack of SEAD operations likely due to insufficient flying hours for pilots plus absence of dedicated SEAD units.
According to Russian Defense Ministry share modern armament reached about 35 percent during 2014 figure raised to 66 percent late 2016 and 72 percent late 2017. FlightGlobal estimated about 3,947 aircraft inventory in 2015 including both serviceable unserviceable storage or reserve aircraft.