A NO-FLY ZONE OVER UKRAINE
Valentyn Nalyvaichenko, People's Deputy of Ukraine, Secretary of the Committee on Ukraine's Integration with the EU
On February 24th 2022 Russia ruthlessly bombed and invaded Ukraine. Russian military encroached into peace and freedom of Ukraine, killing innocent people, destroying cities and threatening the security of the entire civilized world.
We are calling upon every international organization and foreign government to urgently act and help civilians in Ukraine.
The most vital and time-pressing decision is to be made by NATO - to declare a No-Fly Zone over Ukraine. We all understand the risks in making this decision, but we are also clear that the risks are much higher, if such a decision is not made at the right time, which is NOW!
We all see and understand that Russia specifically targets civilians in Ukraine, firing bombs and missiles. Russia’s cruel intention is to break and kill the Ukrainian people.
Under a No-Fly Zone civilians and assailable areas in Ukraine will be protected.
We urge for a No-Fly Zone to be immediately declared to create protected areas for civilians.
We urge to stop the genocide of the Ukrainian nation, to preserve critical infrastructure such as nuclear power plants, gas and chemical industry to avoid a large-scale technogenic disaster.
We urge to protect objects of cultural heritage under the protection of UNESCO.
Along with a No-Fly Zone, air-space humanitarian corridors should be established to rapidly transport injured people and deliver humanitarian aid.
International humanitarian organizations such as the Red Cross should take a lead in this. Such an “air bridge” successfully worked in the West Berlin in 1948 saving almost 3 million people that the Soviet Union tried to starve to death. Just like then, rescue and support emergency planes should land every 3 minutes!
It is time to establish a No-Fly Zone in Ukraine and stand united against Russian aggression!