Battlefield Ukraine

No-Fly Zone

Kozlov and Semenov walked into the parlor room to see President Petrov talking with General Egorkin, General Kuznetsov from the Air Force, and Admiral Petrukhin from the Navy. As they made their way to join them, they noticed the four of them were sipping on some vodka. It was only 9am — clearly the President was in a good mood if he was having a drink this early with his senior military leaders. They took their seats as a steward brought them a glass of vodka and placed the bottle between them.

Petrov was finishing a story of when he had been the KGB Director in East Germany; he was bemoaning the struggles and mistakes the Soviet Union had made back then in dealing with the West. The President was determined to right some of those wrongs now and create a newer, stronger Russia that was as robust economically as it was militarily.

President Petrov turned to the new arrivals in the room. “General Kuznetsov tells me our air-defense systems are operational. We have a multi-layered defense, able to defeat anything the Americans throw at them. General Egorkin assures me that our missile defense system protecting our air-defense systems are also ready. So, when the no-fly zone goes into effect in forty-seven minutes, I want any US, NATO or Ukrainian aircraft and drones flying over it to be engaged. I want them shot down,” the President said resolutely. He raised a glass of vodka to his generals as a salute and downed it with one gulp.

Kozlov felt he should press the President one last time before it was too late to turn back. “Are you sure you want to do this, Mr. President? We have already turned world opinion against the Americans for their attack on our soldiers. We are gaining in global sympathy and moving forward with the referendum vote. I do not want to lose our progress,” he said. Although Kozlov was hoping to approach things differently, he too raised his glass of vodka and took a sip. He was hoping he could get by with nursing just the one glass; he wanted to keep his wits about him for what he was sure would be a long day.

“Shoygu, did the Americans shoot down a Syrian helicopter that they said strayed into the no-fly zone they implemented in Syria a few months ago?” asked Petrov.

“Yes, they did shoot down the helicopter, Mr. President. They even threatened to shoot down one of our own before we turned around and went back to base.”

Smiling, the President said, “That proves my point. If the Americans can impose a no-fly zone on other countries, then so can Russia. I want all drones, helicopters and aircraft flying over the Ukraine no-fly zone to be shot down at 10am,” he announced emphatically as he poured himself and the generals another glass of vodka. He motioned for his two senior advisors to join them in a toast.

“Today,” Petrov said, “Russia reasserted itself as a world power.”