Russia and Ukraine flashpoint

[Zkuq]

SecondWar said:

Zkuq said:

No. I'm already uncomfortable enough with the grey area Ukraine is operating in, but attacking purely civilian equipment with expected high civilian losses would be just evil. Maybe there's a way to destroy the equipment when there's no or only few people around, but it would still be attacks against purely civilian targets and for little benefit but potentially losing a lot of sympathy and hence possibly actual support as well. Also, it would be a great reason for Russia to actually mobilize the population - popular support might just be there in that case.

I get your point if the planes were full and in the air but I read it as the airliners would be empty and on the ground. Certainly if they were targeted at night when airports have little to no civilians around that would likely be permissible.

Also if these were some if the that were western-owned jets that were essentially stolen at the start of the war then they're definitely in more of the grey area as it could be said they're ill-gotten gains or used to evade sanctions.

I don't think it's permissible by any international laws because they're still civilian targets, stolen or not. My stance is that violating those laws is not something to be done lightly. I have some understanding for damaging the economy of an attacker, but I have much less understanding for discomforting the populace in hope of causing a regime change or something. But like I said, I don't think it would be a good move, even if it was legal. There's plenty of examples of the resolve not weakening or even it strengthening when suffering is caused to the populace.