WASHINGTON—Heritage Foundation experts have been a constant presence on national broadcast networks following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. In just the last few days, Heritage’s national security and foreign policy experts have covered the invasion from a number of angles, including China’s role in the crisis, the possible fallout of Russia’s doctrine on using nuclear weapons and its recent assault on nuclear energy facilities, and the Biden administration’s efforts to block a transfer of fighter jets to Ukraine.
Heritage senior research fellow and retired Air Force Col. John “JV” Venable told Shannon Bream Wednesday evening on Fox News that the U.S. needs to be doing more to get military assets into the hands of Ukrainians, and that fears of escalation around provision of fighter jets are off-target:
“They’re putting up an incredible defense, and they need every feather in their cap, every tool we can provide to continue to keep their morale high. … We could truck those [MiG] those airplanes across the border. We could actually move them into Ukraine without flying them. At least the parts and the munitions that go with them without provoking any type of armed conflict directly between NATO & Russia…We ought to give them those MiG-29s and Su-25s.”
Brent Sadler, retired Navy captain and Heritage senior research fellow for naval warfare and advanced technology, explained to Fox Business’ Brian Brenberg Wednesday how Russia views nuclear weapons and where they might use one:
“So Russia, much like Soviet military doctrine—and I’ve got to stress also, the Chinese are trained in the same school of military thought, Soviet military thought—and that is, tactical nuclear weapons are viewed not really like we view them as a strategic weapon, but more just like another artillery round for tactical use. Again, their employment would be in a situation where Putin sees a strategic loss unfolding in Ukraine. This could be the total collapse of his military in Ukraine…”
Dean Cheng, Heritage senior research fellow and China expert, recently joined “Fox & Friends” to discuss the implications of the invasion for China, and what the Chinese Communist Party is learning from the U.S. response:
“One of the big lessons the Chinese are waiting to learn from this is the impact of the SWIFT sanctions, the international financial transaction network. If it’s effective, you should expect that the Chinese are absolutely going to try and create their own network to bypass economic and financial sanctions. Even if it doesn’t work, if it simply just impacts the Russians, the Chinese are watching this eagerly to learn lessons at somebody else’s expense. And a Russian success against Ukraine—they will apply against Taiwan.”
Heritage senior research fellow and retired Marine Corps Lt. Col. Dakota Wood recently discussed with Fox News’ Trace Gallagher the operational challenges the Russian military has encountered in the invasion and the tactical mistakes they have made:
“We are all surprised at how ineffective [Russia’s assaults] have been. The Russians have made several mistakes. They’ve run in to logistical problems. There are even mounting reports of desertions. … One of Russia’s mistakes was spreading the force too thin. Four axes of advance—you can’t get unified effort or value out of those things, they kind of bungled it at the very beginning. … And Putin is going to be as brutal as he possibly can.”
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