Why Ukraine is Left Without Missile Weapons to Deter the russian aggressor: Political and Legal Analysis

Abstract

The article examines political and legal issues of why Ukraine has been left without missile weapons. The authors summarize that Ukraine’s international legal obligations limit Ukrainian missile builders to a potential capacity of producing ballistic missiles up to 500 km. However, this is not what is critical. After all, under martial law, Ukrainian legislation favors production of weapons in general and ballistic missiles in particular. However, there is no special public administration body in Ukraine that is responsible for coordinating and supporting Ukrainian private arms producers. The article concludes that the main reason why Ukraine has been left without missile weapons is the short-sightedness on the part of the officials of the Ministry of Defense of Ukraine, domestic financial and industrial groups, and civil society actors. The authors propose an investment paradigm that should guide domestic elites to invest in the production of Ukrainian weapons, in particular, Ukrainian ballistic missiles which could deter the Russian aggressor.

Keywords

• ballistic missiles
• deterrent weapons
• international obligations
• national legislation
• legal restrictions
• international law
• russian-ukrainian war
• arms trafficking