UK’s Ben Wallace: no-fly zone would strip Ukraine of ability to hit Russians from air

Britain said closing the skies in Ukraine would lead to Nato shooting down Russian jets

An armed man stands by the remains of a Russian military vehicle in Bucha, close to the capital Kyiv, Ukraine, Tuesday, March 1, 2022. Russia on Tuesday stepped up shelling of Kharkiv, Ukraine's second-largest city, pounding civilian targets there. Casualties mounted and reports emerged that more than 70 Ukrainian soldiers were killed after Russian artillery recently hit a military base in Okhtyrka, a city between Kharkiv and Kyiv, the capital. (AP Photo / Serhii Nuzhnenko)Show less

Britain’s Defence Secretary Ben Wallace has restated the UK government’s opposition to enforcing a no-fly zone in Ukraine, arguing it would strip Ukrainian army of its ability to strike Russians from the air.

As President Vladimir Putin’s invasion enters its seventh day, and the civilian death toll mounts, there remains little appetite in the West to close the skies over Eastern Europe.

A day after UK Prime Minister Boris Johnson dismissed calls for a no-fly zone, Mr Wallace rejected the idea and said this would lead to a larger war.

“If you have a no-fly zone you have to enforce a no-fly zone,” Mr Wallace told Sky News.

“That would involve British fighter jets shooting down Russian fighter jets, probably over Ukraine; that would lead to Article Five triggering of Nato, and Nato is a self-defence pact; all 30 countries will come to each other’s aid. The triggering of that Article Five would lead to a war against Russia across the whole of Europe.”

He said a restriction on aircraft would also have to apply to Ukrainian jets, which would prevent them from bombing Russian targets.

“If you had a no-fly zone in Ukraine, the overwhelming scale of the Russian army would be able to drive around with impunity, which it can’t at the moment.”

On Tuesday, Mr Johnson said no Nato member was considering introducing a no-fly zone over Ukraine to prevent Russian forces from dropping bombs.

“I think for any Nato member to get involved actively in conflict with Russia is a huge step which is not being contemplated by any member,” Mr Johnson said during a visit to Tapa military base in Estonia.

The prime minister, accompanied by Estonia’s Prime Minister, Kaja Kallas, was greeted by Nato troops at the site.

A no-fly zone would open the possibility of Nato troops shooting down Russian planes, Mr Johnson said. This is “not on the agenda of any Nato country”, he said.

“We will not fight Russian forces in Ukraine,” he said. “Our reinforcements, like these reinforcements here in Tapa, are firmly within the borders of Nato members.”

After the Russian leader ordered troops into the former Soviet nation last Thursday, Ukraine’s Ambassador to the UK, Vadym Prystaiko, immediately called on Nato to impose a no-fly zone.

Damage after the shelling of buildings in central Kharkiv, Ukraine. EPA

Workers from a local construction company weld anti-tank obstacles to be placed on roads around Kyiv as Russia's invasion of Ukraine continues. Reuters

Anti-war protesters attach sunflowers to barriers in front of the Russian embassy. Reuters

Ukrainian volunteers prepare food for displaced people outside Lviv railway station in western Ukraine. AP

A Ukrainian soldier holds an anti-tank launcher north-east of Kyiv. AFP

Ukrainian refugees rest at Warsaw East train station in Poland. EPA

Children look out from a carriage window as a train prepares to depart from a station in Lviv to the town of Uzhhorod near the border with Slovakia. AFP

A girl who fled Ukraine is reunited with her father in Medyka, south-eastern Poland. AP Photo

Tears outside a house damaged by a Russian airstrike in Gorenka, on the outskirts of Kyiv. AP Photo

A civil defence member is poised to shoot as a vehicle approaches a checkpoint in Gorenka. AP Photo

A Ukrainian civil defence member in the garden of a house damaged by a Russian airstrike. AP Photo

Members of the US Army 3rd Infantry Division board a plane bound for Germany in Savannah, Georgia. EPA

Prayers for peace in Ukraine at the Vatican's Saint Peter's Square. AFP

A woman (right) hugs an arriving passenger from a train carrying refugees at Berlin's central station. EPA

Firefighters battle a blaze in a Kharkiv police building hit by shelling. AFP

A Ukrainian woman makes a phone call after crossing the Slovakian border. AFP

A doctor takes shelter in the basement of a Kyiv perinatal centre. Reuters

Debris which locals say was caused by shelling in separatist-controlled Horlivka, Donetsk. Reuters

MPs in London give a standing ovation to Ukraine ambassador Vadym Prystaiko, who was in the public gallery. AP

Distraught women and children fleeing Ukraine wait to enter Poland at the Korczowa crossing. Getty

Newborn Ivan lies next to his mother as they shelter in the basement of a Kyiv perinatal centre. Reuters

Firefighters hand water to people in a Ukrainian train full of refugees in Przemysl, Poland. Reuters

Ukrainian refugees queue to file for residency permits at Prague's police headquarters. AFP

Firefighters work to contain a blaze in buildings housing the Kharkiv regional police department. AFP

A woman and her children sit in a tent in the Kyiv subway, using it as a bomb shelter. AP

Firefighters work to extinguish a blaze at the Kharkiv National University building, which city officials said was damaged by Russian shelling. Reuters

An elderly woman comforts a child as they take shelter inside an underground station in Kyiv. Reuters

People queue at a pharmacy in central Kyiv. Reuters

A woman is consoled by a volunteer after fleeing from Russia's invasion of Ukraine, at the border crossing in Siret, Romania. Reuters

A Ukrainian civilian in the city of Zhytomyr practises throwing petrol bombs. Reuters

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy poses after an interview with Reuters in Kyiv. Reuters

A blast is seen at Kyiv's TV tower. Reuters

A girl in Siret, Romania, covers herself with a blanket after fleeing from Ukraine. Reuters

Ukraine's ambassador to the US, Oksana Markarova, acknowledges applause from US first lady Jill Biden as they attend President Joe Biden's first State of the Union address in Washington. AFP

A man walks past the remains of Russian military vehicles in Bucha, close to Kyiv. AFP

Civilians cross a river on a blown-up bridge on Kyiv's northern front. Defending the capital is a 'key priority', Ukraine's president has said. AFP

Russian aircraft on the ground at Luninets Airbase, Belarus, about 50 kilometres north of the Ukrainian border. AFP

People look at the gutted remains of Russian military vehicles on a road in the town of Bucha. AP

A woman with a child who fled from the war in Ukraine reunite with their family after crossing the border in Medyka, Poland. AP

Animal keeper Kirilo Trantin comforts an elephant at Kyiv Zoo. AP

An armed man stands by the remains of a Russian military vehicle in Bucha. AP

Ukrainian families say goodbye as they prepare to board a bus to Poland at Lviv, western Ukraine. AP

Paramedics move a man who was wounded by shelling in a residential area of Mariupol, south-eastern Ukraine. AP

Rescuers work at the site of a Russian strike in Zhytomyr. Reuters

US actor and director Sean Penn attends a press briefing at the Presidential Office in Kyiv. Reuters

Demonstrators participate in a protest against Russia’s invasion of Ukraine at Lafayette Square in Washington. AFP

Ukrainian soldiers rest while others eat near the front line with Russian troops in northern Kyiv. AP

A barricade made of trams, buses and sand bags is seen through the window of car in the northern part of Kyiv. AP

Members of the European Parliament applaud after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy's speech at a special session to debate its response to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Reuters

Ambassadors and diplomats walk out as Russia's Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov (on screen) speaks during a recorded message at the 49th session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva. EPA

Such a measure would have to be enforced by military means, including surveillance, pre-emptive strikes against defensive systems and the downing of aircraft that enter a restricted area.

Gen Sir Adrian Bradshaw, former deputy supreme allied commander of Nato, backed Britain’s opposition to a no-fly zone.

He argued the conflict in Ukraine was not like the war in Iraq, and said: “We’re up against a sophisticated enemy with very capable air defence assets.”

He said that if a no-fly zone were imposed, British troops would have to shoot down Russian planes, carry out attacks on ground elements of Russia’s air defences and possibly conduct special forces raids.

He said such a scenario would pave the way for a multipronged war between Nato and Russia that would span space, the ground, sea, air, internet and media.

“This is war. It amounts to 30 countries against Russia,” he told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme. “This is the Third World War in anybody’s language. We cannot afford to let that happen.”

Mr Wallace told the BBC that President Putin knows “no limit” and would use indiscriminate carpet bombing against Ukrainian cities as his forces close in on Kyiv. He said the leadership of the Russian military was “ruthless” and was prepared to lay siege to Ukraine’s population centres.

After days of intense battles, Russian paratroopers landed on a military hospital in Ukraine’s second city, Kharkiv, overnight. But Mr Wallace said Mr Putin’s forces did not yet have control of the eastern city.

The Ministry of Defence said the latest intelligence suggested Russian forces had moved into the centre of Kherson, in south Ukraine.

More than 2,000 civilians have been killed since Russia launched its invasion, the Ukrainian emergency service said on Wednesday.

Mr Johnson spoke to Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy on Wednesday morning to voice his “disgust” at the “abhorrent attacks” carried out by Russian forces in Ukraine in recent hours and days, a UK government representative said.

“The Prime Minister told President Zelenskyy that the UK was rallying UN General Assembly members today, to ensure the strongest possible condemnation of Russia at this afternoon’s UN meeting in New York,” the representative said.

“Sharing his disgust at the attacks on Ukraine, the prime minister said the UK was doing everything possible to support the Ukrainian people and their resistance.

“President Zelenskyy thanked the Prime Minister for the UK’s support and leadership in ensuring defensive aid reached Ukraine and said it had been vital in holding back Russian forces.

“Both leaders agreed on the need for sanctions to go further to exert maximum pressure on President Putin in the coming days.

“The prime minister said his thoughts and prayers, and those of the UK, were with the Ukrainian people.”