Ukrainians called for a no-fly zone to be created over their country during a peaceful protest in Newcastle this weekend.
Ukraine's president Volodymyr Zelensky has said the West's reluctance to impose the measure has given President Putin of Russia the 'green light' to bomb the country.
Protesters demonstrating by Grey's Monument in Newcastle on Saturday carried placards calling for more action, including calls echoing Mr Zelensky's request for NATO to create a no-fly zone, which would ban Russian planes from Ukrainian airspace, with a threat to shoot down any aircraft ignoring the measure.
Read more : Ukrainians in Newcastle call for no-fly zone
Oleg Sklyga, 44, an engineer from Ukraine who now lives in Stockton-on-Tees, said: "It is a war and it is a crime which Russians are doing against our people.
"They have been shelling over peaceful cities and killing citizens and kids. They are shelling hospitals and schools.
"We are trying to ask people to make a petition to the West to close the sky over Ukraine because every day we have more casualties and more deaths. That is why we are here."
NATO and member states including the UK and USA have resisted calls for a no-fly zone.
Speaking on Sunday, Deputy Prime Minister Dominic Raab said creating a no-fly zone would lead to "massive escalation" and allow President Putin to sell a "narrative" to the Russian people.
He told Sky News’s Trevor Phillips on Sunday programme: “We’re not going to get ourselves into a direct military conflict with Putin because that would be a massive escalation, but also that feeds Putin’s narrative.
“Putin wants to say that he’s actually in a struggle with the West – he’s not”.
He called no-fly zones “very difficult, very challenging”, adding: “We will do everything short of that to support Ukrainians”.
What is a no-fly zone?
President Zelensky is calling on NATO - an alliance of 30 European and North American countries which includes the UK, Canada, USA, Turkey, Poland and much of the EU - to impose a no-fly zone banning Russian aircraft from Ukrainian air space.
The idea is to stop Russian aircraft from bombing and shelling Ukraine. NATO would threaten to shoot down Russian planes and helicopters that breach the order.
Neither Ukraine nor Russia are members of NATO. Ukraine's neighbours Romania, Hungary, Slovakia and Poland are.
Why does Ukraine want a no-fly zone?
Mr Zelensky has pleaded with NATO to introduce a no-fly zone in a bid to stop Russian aircraft from attacking his country and bombing its people.
Speaking on Saturday, March 5, he criticised NATO for failing to bring in a no-fly zone.
He told leaders: "Starting from today everyone who dies will die because of you as well, because of your weakness, because of your disunity."
A failure to introduce a no-fly zone has "given" Russia "the green light for the bombardment of Ukrainian cities and villages," Mr Zelensky added.
Why isn't there a no-fly zone over Ukraine?
For a no-fly zone to be effective, the threats behind them must be backed up. Russia is not a member of NATO and can choose to ignore the no-fly zone order.
NATO would have to authorise deadly force on Russian aircraft that enter the no-fly zone, which would essentially bring other countries into war with Russia.
Mr Putin said on Saturday that a no-fly zone will be viewed by him as "as participation in an armed conflict by that country" and he has previously warned of "consequences greater than any of you have faced in history" for nations that intervene.
A leading military boss said a no-fly zone over Ukraine “would not help”.
The Chief of the Defence Staff Admiral Sir Tony Radakin told the BBC’s Sunday Morning programme: “The advice that we as senior military professionals are giving our politicians is to avoid doing things that are tactically ineffective and definitely to avoid doing things that tactically might lead to miscalculation or escalation.
“The no-fly zone would not help.
“Most of the shelling is coming from artillery, most of the destruction is coming from artillery, it’s not coming from Russian aircraft.
“If we were to police a no-fly zone, it means that we probably have to take out Russian defence systems and we would have NATO aircraft in the air alongside Russian aircraft, and then the potential of shooting them down and then that leads to an escalation.”
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