Photo: BBC
As the warfare between Ukraine and Russia continues to aggregate, the people need more help.
“The Ukrainian people are desperately asking for the West to protect our sky. We are asking for a no-fly zone,” said a Ukrainian woman to UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson on Tuesday.
“Ukrainian women and Ukrainian children are in deep fear because of bombs and missiles which are coming from the sky,” said Daria Kaleniuk.
However, despite Russians hitting civilian residential areas and an elevating civilian death figure, the West has ruled out an imposition of the no-fly zone. Here’s why.
A no-fly zone is an area of airspace where it has been implemented that particular aircraft cannot fly. It can be imposed to safeguard sensitive areas, including royal residences, or temporarily implemented for sporting events and massive gatherings.
A no-fly zone is used to ban aircraft entry into an airspace in a military scene, typically to avoid attacks and espionage. It has to be executed by military measures. That could be espionage, protective measures against defensive systems or disposing of aircraft which intrudes the restricted area.
A no-fly zone over Ukraine would imply that military forces – to specify, NATO forces – would participate directly with any Russian planes seen on those skies and bring them down if need be.
However, the participation of NATO forces in bringing down Russian aircraft or equipment would be a prospect for a quick escalation of tensions.
Former US air force general Philip Breedlove said in an interview, “You don’t just say ‘that’s a no-fly zone.’ You have to enforce a no-fly zone.”
The general, who formerly became NATO’s prime allied commander from 2013 to 2016, stated that even though he agrees with the request for a no-fly zone over Ukraine, it’s a very critical decision to make.
“It’s tantamount to war. If we’re going to declare a no-fly zone, we have to take down the enemy’s capability to fire into and affect our no-fly zone.”
Tobias Ellwood, UK MP and chairs the Defence Committee, supports a partial or total no-fly zone, asking NATO to interfere because of civilian deaths and speculated war crimes.
However, on Monday, Jens Stoltenberg, NATO’s secretary general, dismissed inclusion by the alliance, saying, “We have no intention of moving into Ukraine, either on the ground or air.”
