“Russian wings do not dare to fly over the Motherland…”

Ivan Sichen

The Russian invaders’ missile and bomb strikes on the civilian population of Ukraine have sharply increased the urgency of the problem of creating a no-fly zone over our state. This issue has been repeatedly raised by the Ukrainian leadership, including in personal appeals to the leaders of the United States, Germany and other leading Western countries.

Unfortunately, at the official level, they are still denying us this, citing their position of “not wanting to engage in direct military confrontation with Russia”. However, in reality, the situation is somewhat different. Moreover, not only in the sphere of gradual progress of negotiations between Ukraine and its Western partners on this issue, but also at the level of real action.

To begin with, we would like to clarify the meaning of the concept of “no-fly zone”, as many do not fully understand what it means. Under international law, a no-fly zone or a zone in which flights are forbidden, is defined as an area established by military force over which some aircraft are not permitted to fly. Usually, such zones are created over the territories of countries where conflicts take place and, first of all, concern the aviation of the party carrying out the aggression.

No-fly zones are created and enforced by other countries (usually the world’s leading states) in order to reduce civilian casualties and destruction of civilian infrastructure in the conflict area and its subsequent cessation. Depending on the specific conditions, different methods of action may be used, including: monitoring the situation; implementation of warning attacks to prevent possible violations; destruction of violating aircraft.

The norms of international law provide for some other options and conditions for the creation of no-fly zones, but we will not distract attention from them, as they are not directly related to the situation in Ukraine. It is better to give a few examples of the introduction of such zones over areas of various conflicts in the recent past. In particular:

• by decision of the United States and its allies from the anti-Iraq coalition, two no-fly zones were established over Iraq after the Gulf War in 1991 (Iraq’s attack on Kuwait). The northern zone was intended to prevent attacks by the then Iraqi regime of S. Hussein on the Kurds, and the southern zone – to protect the country’s Shiite population. The operation was sanctioned by the United Nations, enforced by combat aircraft of the United States and its allies, and lasted until 2003;
• UN Security Council Resolution 781 banned unauthorized flights of military aircraft in Bosnian airspace (part of Bosnia and Herzegovina, one of the former Yugoslav republics) in 1992, where a civil war had broken out. During Operation Sky Monitor, which lasted until 1995, NATO forces monitored the air situation without the use of force;
• another UN Security Council resolution authorized a no-fly zone over Libya in 2011, after the start of force actions against the opposition be the country’s ruling regime led by M. Gaddafi. The resolution called to put an end to government military strikes on civilian targets. The operation was enforced by NATO forces, which destroyed both aircraft and airfields of Gaddafi’s troops. And the result was the overthrow of his government.

And now let’s analyze the possibility of introducing a no-fly zone over Ukraine. Of course, we cannot expect a relevant decision from the UN Security Council, as it would definitely be blocked by Moscow. Unfortunately, Russia, as an aggressor and a terrorist country that is no different from Hitler’s Germany, still remains a member of the world’s highest security body and has a veto power in it.

A direct decision on this issue will not be made by the United States and NATO, which really does not want to enter into direct confrontation with Russia. However, this does not mean that they have withdrawn from assisting Ukraine’s air defense. Moreover, they are really helping us to create a no-fly zone for Russians aircraft over the territory of our state.

The FIM-92 Stinger, man-portable air-defense systems, which were handed over to Ukraine by our Western partners, have already played an important role in this. It is known that the use of similar MANPADS was the main cause of losses of Soviet aircraft in Afghanistan and Russian – in Chechnya, and then in Syria. Similarly, MANPADS were one of the most effective means of military (front-line) air defense on all the Arab-Israeli wars of the 1970s.

However, the decisions of Bulgaria, Poland and Slovakia to hand over seventy tactical aircraft to Ukraine, including 56 MiG-29 fighters and 14 Su-25 attack aircraft, are of real strategic importance. At this, they can be based in Poland and perfume combat duties from its territory.

Of course, all this could not be done without a decision be the United States and NATO, of which these countries are members. This is the real contribution of the Alliance to the creation of a no-fly zone over Ukraine. By the way, it has already started to really work.

Evidence of this was the destruction by the Ukrainian Air Force of about 70 aircraft and helicopters of the Russian Air Force, including the “most modern” MiG-30SM and MiG-35S. And Russia can no longer hide such losses.

In particular, according to Russian media, on March 1, 2022, a farewell ceremony was held in Samara (Central Military District of the Russian Armed Forces) with Colonel Ruslan Rudnev, a pilot of the attack aircraft, who “died heroically during a special operation to protect the DPR and LPR”. The deceased is survived by his wife and two children. Someone may feel sorry for them, but why did their husband and father and, in general, Russia itself, unleashed a war against Ukraine.

By the way, how low Russia must have fallen if colonels are the pilots of Russian attack aircraft.

In conclusion, we would like to say that the airspace of all European countries, as well as of the United States and other NATO member states that have supported Ukraine, has become a no-fly zone for Russian civilian aircraft, those of Russian oligarchs included.