Romania may become legitimate target for Russian forces at Moldova's behest

Moldovan Telegram channels report that President Maia Sandu may allow American F-16 fighter jets transferred to Ukraine to fly from Romania over Moldova to strike the Russian forces.

Photo: nato.int

Bring in a NATO country

Allegedly, negotiations are underway to station Ukraine's F-16 fighter aircraft in Romania. Ukrainian fighter jets will take off from there, fly through Moldova's airspace, strike the Russian Armed Forces, and then return to Romania flying through Moldova again.

"Fundamental agreements have been reached between the leaders of our states, President of the Republic of Moldova Maia Sandu and President of Ukraine Volodymyr Zelensky, regarding a possibility for Ukraine to use the airspace of the Republic of Moldova,” reads the text of the letter from Ukrainian Foreign Minister Dmitry Kuleba to his Moldovan counterpart Nicolae Popescu.

Experts immediately concluded that Moldova may thus become a human shield for these fighters since Russia "will not be able to intercept and destroy them on the territory of Moldova.”

However, it is only attack aircraft that Russia currently operates over the territory of Ukraine. Russia uses its aircraft "from beyond the horizon” so to speak. Strategic aviation may also take off from the territory of Russia to strike targets in Ukraine. The Russian military launch cruise missiles from Russian bases. Therefore, there are no air battles happening over Ukraine, because there are powerful air defence systems operating there.

If these systems were ignored, then it would be possible to safely fly deep into Ukraine and strike strongholds, headquarters and military infrastructure. However, powerful air defences do not let this happen. European and American air defence systems are unable to intercept Kinzhal or other effective missiles, but they can easily work against aircraft. Therefore, the use of aviation over Ukraine was limited.

F-16 as rocket carriers

The special military operation has changed a lot in modern military tactics and strategy. The use of military aircraft seemed to be highly efficient in war times of the past, but the development of air defence and drone technologies caused this to change dramatically. The same applies to artillery and tanks.

Clearly, Ukraine's Air Force needs American F-16 aircraft as carriers of air-to-ground and air-to-air cruise missiles. They can be hardly suitable for direct air battles with more advanced Russian equipment.

If F-16 fighters of the Ukrainian Air Force take off from Romania and strike the territory of the Russian Federation, this will be a serious reason for declaring war. Romanian airfields will become a legitimate target for the Russian army.