Yes so where are they?
We probably won’t know for sure until all this stuff gets analyzed. Only thing I can say is that the enemy can force you into employing a weapon tactically in a way that doesn’t make sense. A historical example might be the Israeli Air Force flying close air support against the Egyptians (1973) despite high losses because they had no choice. The Israeli army was weak in artillery and needed to cover for that weakness.
I’ve read that the Russian ground reconnaissance elements were heavily targeted with ATGM’s by the Ukies and that this may have resulted in Russian main force units getting surprised, surrounded & cut-off in a few instances. If that were true, then the Russians might be using their aviation assets in that “recon by fire” role. And they just aren’t suited for that.