Are the MiG-29s Breaking the Taboo on Long-range Weapon Deliveries?

Delay in the supply of munitions both emboldening the aggressor and prolonging the conflict

28 March 2023

Bohdan Bernatskyi

Future of Ukraine Fellow

A year after Russia’s assault on Ukraine, Western reluctance to send longer-range weapons to Ukraine remains deeply rooted in fears of nuclear escalation by a desperate Moscow. But Ukraine will struggle for victory without the ability to strike well behind Russian lines.

Despite the growing conviction in Western capitals that a Ukrainian victory should be the desired endgame to the Russian invasion, they remain reluctant to “provoke” Vladimir Putin towards a major escalation with some types of weapon deliveries to the Ukrainian military.

What would constitute such a major escalation often remains unsaid, but there is little doubt that the potential use of nuclear arms is what is meant here. One may imagine that the Russians will either start shelling Ukrainian nuclear power plants or even deploy tactical nuclear weapons. But everyone saw what happened in the Energodar nuclear power plant where the Russian Army stored artillery rounds.

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Bohdan Bernatskyi

Future of Ukraine Fellow

Bohdan Bernatskyi is a Visegrad Insight Fellow as of 2022. As a Senior Lecturer at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (and Ostroh Academy) he teaches Diplomatic Law, Public International Law, Countermeasures and Law of Treaties. In 2019, he defended PhD thesis on banning political parties in Ukraine and abroad. Since then, Bohdan has become a member of the Parliamentary working group on reforming party legislation in Ukraine. Bohdan serves as an independent Legal Consultant at Project Expedite Justice (2022-currently), Future of Ukraine Fellow at Visegrad Insight (2022-currently). He was a Legal Adviser to Ukrainian MPs (2020-2022), and Democracy Reporting International (2015-2019). His professional track of record includes thorough expertise in the fields of sanctions and transitional justice initiatives. He is the author of the complex changes to Ukrainian sanctions infrastructure which aimed at converging UA foreign policy tools to EU best practices. Given EU candidate status to Ukraine, the idea to deepen cooperation within EU-UA CFSP, including sanctions, will gain more currency. Bohdan participated as an Independent Expert in the transitional reform group launched by the Ministry of Reintegration of Ukraine. All efforts related to building solutions for sustainable peaceful reintegration of the temporarily occupied territories of Ukraine was brutally interrupted by Russia on February 24th, 2022. The aftermath of the war will require harder approaches to transitional measures and Bohdan will contribute to this development.

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