Lacking sufficient anti-aircraft systems to repel Russia’s unrelenting attacks, Ukraine is pushing its European allies to establish a no-fly zone in the west of the country by deploying air defence systems in neighbouring Poland and Romania, officials have said.
Kyiv would like to create a safe space in western Ukraine where industry, energy infrastructure and civilians can be protected against the massive destruction unleashed by Russian strikes in recent months.
“I don’t understand why NATO doesn’t deploy Patriot systems along the Polish border,” said lawmaker Oleksiy Goncharenko, referring to US-manufactured air defence systems.
“After all, Russian missiles have already entered Polish and Romanian airspace. This would protect the borders of Poland and Romania and this would create a safe zone in the west and south of Ukraine,” he added.
That request was mirrored by several Ukrainian civilian and military officials who spoke to AFP in Kyiv during a trip organised last week by the French Institute of International Relations (IFRI) and local think tank New Europe Center.
Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmytro Kuleba opened the debate in May, saying there was “no legal, security or moral argument that stands in the way of our partners shooting down Russian missiles over the territory of Ukraine from their territory.”
President Volodymyr Zelensky has spent months pushing for more air defences from his Western partners, but fresh supplies have only trickled in.
Recent victories for Kyiv include Romania’s promise of a Patriot missile defence system, and the United States has said it will prioritise sales of anti-aircraft missiles to Ukraine for the next 16 months to allow it to replenish its stocks.
However, time is running out for Ukraine, which has seen half its national electricity production capacity destroyed in recent months.
Every week, Russian missiles and drones strike the energy network, causing daily power outages that affect almost the entire population.
Russia focused on shelling Ukraine’s energy distribution networks during the winter of 2022-2023 but has recently been destroying energy production facilities, which are much more costly and take years to repair or rebuild.
Moscow is also targeting the country’s energy reserves.
A European diplomatic source says Russian determination was underlined when it struck a facility storing gas three kilometres underground in the west of Ukraine.
“In the energy sector, the situation is really hard,” said a senior Ukrainian security official, speaking on condition of anonymity, adding he fears it will deteriorate further as winter approaches.
The official said talks were “in progress” with Western allies on a no-fly zone over western Ukraine using Patriot systems in Poland or Romania, “but that is not a simple decision”.
Western countries have been highly cautious about any moves that could lead to direct clashes with Russian forces and drag them into a wider war, which “makes this process slow and silent”, the official said.
However, the subject could be discussed at the next NATO summit in Washington in early July, according to Ukrainian Deputy Prime Minister Olga Stefanishyna.
“We are doing everything we can to mobilise enough air defence elements to allow us to continue to be functional throughout the war,” she said.
Kyiv does not expect any progress towards joining NATO, however, with Washington and Berlin still strongly opposed for fear of further antagonising Russia.
“The chances of getting an invitation are close to zero,” said a Ukrainian diplomatic source.
But he said that Ukraine’s allies felt a “sense of guilt” about this, which plays into Kyiv’s hands.
That “puts pressure on our allies”, he said, to make “other strong decisions as alternatives”.
Russian oil depot on fire after Ukrainian drone strike
A Ukrainian drone has hit a petrol depot setting it on fire, a Russian regional governor said, adding that the strike took place hundreds of miles from the border.
Maxim Yegorov, governor of the Tambov region in central Russia, said the strike happened at 4:35 am (5.35am Irish time).
“A small fire broke out and it has been contained,” he said on messaging app Telegram. “There are no victims”.
Russia’s defence ministry, meanwhile, said it had “intercepted” 25 Ukrainian drones overnight, without mentioning the Tambov region.
In the western Bryansk region, governor Alexander Bogomov said a drone had been downed but its debris “partially destroyed the roof of an administrative building”.
Ukraine, which has been facing a Russian offensive for over two years, regularly launches attacks targeting Russian energy and defence sites in response to strikes on its territory.
It comes as Russian Defence Minister Andrei Belousov ordered the army’s General Staff to come up with proposals on how to promptly deal with “provocations” by US strategic drones operating over the Black Sea, the defence ministry said.
The ministry said in a statement that it had noted increased activity in the area from US drones which it said were carrying out surveillance and gathering targeting information for high-precision Western weapons used by Ukraine to strike Russian facilities.
“This demonstrates the increasing involvement of the United States and NATO countries in the conflict in Ukraine on the side of the Kyiv regime,” the defence ministry said.
“Such flights multiply the likelihood of airspace incidents with Russian aircraft, which increases the risk of a direct confrontation between the (NATO) alliance and the Russian Federation.”
It said that NATO countries would be responsible for any such incidents.
The statement did not mention Crimea, the Black Sea region which Moscow annexed from Ukraine in 2014.
But Russian military facilities in Crimea have been repeatedly targeted by Ukrainian forces, including with Western missiles.
