Earlier today I heard a UKR MP suggest NATO pilots could be given UKR citizenship . . . . .

[Stinky The Clown]

. . . . . and fly donated fighter jets for air cover. Base them in far western UKR.

Can that work?

[FarPoint]

1. Well....

I'll just say this....Gets my vote....

[Ocelot II]

2. I should think that they would individually have to leave their NATO units

and become part of a separate UKR foreign legion; otherwise, even with UKR citizenship they're still NATO.

[gab13by13]

7. Why?

Why couldn't an American pilot, or Italian, get dual citizenship from Ukraine and fly Ukraine's planes?

[Ocelot II]

8. Ukraine already is using all the planes it has.

Any additional ones will have to come from NATO countries. How will Putin distinguish NATO planes flown by American pilots with recently-granted UKR citizenship from other planes? He won't. He's going to try to shoot down all aircraft in UKR airspace, and he will use any excuse to start shit with NATO.

[Irish_Dem]

3. Putin will say: "this is an act of war and I am going to nuke you." ???

That is his standard reply now.

[FarPoint]

5. Well...

Let's not tell him....

[Irish_Dem]

9. Rubio and Daines will tell him. :(

[FarPoint]

10. I see your point .

[Sneederbunk]

4. As if this would make a difference to Pootie. Don't get too cute.

[Igel]

6. Dunno.

But the way Putin extended Ru citizenship to a lot of Donbassers seems similar.

Of course, we could just pull a Putin and take their insignias off and insist that they're really Ukrainians. Maybe they just were raised in Britain, or they're Ukrainians that speak an odd dialect that just *happens* to be identical to English.

Or my favorite: When Russian troops were captured with their ID, military or otherwise, say, "Well, they were on vacation--and who are we to dictate what our soldiers do when they're on leave?" And any military equipment of Russian manufacture too recent to be left overs from the USSR-days was obviously stolen. If grenades, why not fighter jets?

Given the volunteers that are being allowed to travel to Volhynia/Volyn' and cross the border, anything's possible.

(I don't see this happening, of course. But given Putin's lies and manipulations, and how the West fell for it out of an overabundance of caution ...)