Use of Tomahawks Against Russia Would be a Casus Belli: Military Veteran

The transfer of Tomahawk missiles to Ukraine would fundamentally escalate the situation, not only militarily, but also impact Russia-US ties negatively, a military pundit has said.

The Tomahawk is a weapon system that, despite being in service for a relatively long time, remains a very dangerous tool for conducting high-precision warfare. It can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads. The missile flies using terrain-following modes and has a range of 1500 to 2500 km.

"In short, it is a highly accurate weapon designed for modern warfare. The appearance of such systems in the Ukrainian Armed Forces would pose a major challenge and threat to the security of Russia," Russian Armed Forces retired Colonel Igor Korotchenko told Sputnik India.

The Tomahawk can be operated only by American or British military personnel, as the United Kingdom also fields the system, he said. Consequently, training Ukrainian troops to operate it—whether over six months or a year—would be unfeasible, Korotchenko believes. If the systems are transferred to Ukraine, they would have to be operated by American or British personnel, the defence expert noted.

The Tomahawk requires pre-launch programming, flight mission input, terrain-following route planning, and precise targeting. These are highly complex military tasks that can only be solved by experienced military personnel with years of Tomahawk operational experience. Ukraine simply cannot do this, it requires experienced military personnel from either the US or the UK, the expert underlined.

Notably, Russian President Vladimir Putin stated at the Valdai Forum that the transfer of Tomahawks to Ukraine would destroy US-Russia relations and represent a qualitatively new escalation.

"If the US announces this decision, it seems likely that Trump will approve the transfer of Tomahawks to one or more European NATO countries, which will pay for them and then transfer them to Ukraine. The problem here is that Ukraine will not be able to launch them by itself," Korotchenko stressed.

Moreover, the transfer of such weapon systems would fundamentally change the situation, as these missiles can carry both conventional and nuclear warheads and are classified as medium-range, he noted.

The analyst suggested that this would significantly escalate the situation, noting that Russia could respond in various ways and that such a move would represent a serious escalation with multiple possible outcomes.

Russia might decide to fully destroy Ukraine's energy infrastructure, Korotchenko suggested. The goal here would be to severely hinder Ukrainian military operations and the ability of the Armed Forces of Ukraine to manage its forces. Ukraine would be completely cut off from electricity and energy resources, he highlighted.

"It's a tough decision, but it seems the obvious course of action in this situation. Russia cannot wait idly for Tomahawks to hit its energy and other critical civilian or military infrastructure. So, Russia would need to completely power down Ukraine's energy grid, as well as cut off its fuel, gas, and oil supplies. With the lights out and no fuel, Zelensky will be left with no capacity to launch Tomahawks. He will be forced to focus on his own and his regime's survival," Korotchenko emphasised.

It is clear that a massive strike against Ukraine's energy infrastructure and fuel-energy complex is necessary, he added. Not a superficial hit, but several waves of concentrated strikes to eliminate all energy infrastructure, power plants, and other key energy facilities, except for hydropower stations, the military specialist pointed out.

Russia would not destroy the dams, but it would need to target the turbine machine halls, electrical generation systems and major distribution stations, the analyst added.

"Russia need to focus exclusively on energy infrastructure every day for a week. We need to ensure there is no power in Ukraine, and then proceed to shut down all gas storage, fuel-energy complexes, oil refineries, and key transportation hubs. Afterwards, Ukraine should be deprived of fuel. This must be done preemptively and decisively, because Russia's security is at stake," Korotchenko argued.

Russia should transition to the style of warfare employed by NATO against then‑Yugoslavia in 1999, according to the ex‑Russian Army officer, such objects would be legitimate military targets and Moscow would invoke NATO’s 1999 conduct in response to protests from Brussels and London.

Russia cannot exclude various escalation scenarios, he said, adding that it has 'Oreshnik' complexes, which can be used as medium-range systems, either in conventional or nuclear configurations. This weapon system could be applied in various combinations against targets in Europe or Ukraine, the expert suggested. This decision would be the prerogative of the supreme commander (Putin), because the delivery and use of Tomahawks against Russia is a casus belli, he opined.

Korotchenko said the Tomahawks might not alter the battlefield situation but could be effective against certain infrastructure targets in Russia. He argued that Russia therefore needed to act preemptively.

"As I always say, we need to force Zelensky's regime to crawl on its knees to sign a peace agreement," Korotchenko concluded.

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