Access to Justice in Eastern Europe (Aug 2022)
The Legality of the Russian Military Operations Against Ukraine from the Perspective of International Law
Abstract
The current study seeks to discuss the grounds used by the Russian authorities to legalise their war against Ukraine, indicating the falseness of these grounds and considering the efforts of the United Nations and the International Community that aim to cease Russian aggression against Ukraine. It aims to demonstrate the falseness of Russian legality in its war against Ukraine by identifying the violations and crimes related to the Russian attack under international laws and norms, including the Charter of the United Nations, rules of international humanitarian law, and international human rights law, emphasising on the potential accountability mechanism for perpetrators of international crimes during the Russian war against Ukraine. Russia has used military force against Ukraine several times since 2014 and seized several Ukrainian critical and strategic locations, including them in the Russian territory, coinciding with escalating protests by Pro-Russian separatist groups, especially in Donetsk and Luhansk, where these groups declared their independence in February 2022. Furthermore, Russia has declared it started a special military operation aiming at peacekeeping in those two regions, in addition to claiming that its intent was to stop genocide crimes undertaken by Ukraine in the eastern region of Donbas. This research concentrated on the legality of the latest Russian military operations that started on 24 February 2022 from the perspective of contemporary international law. The research uses the descriptive analysis method, which is based on the precise description and in-depth analysis of the topic through gathering detailed data related to the research problem, analysing and interpreting legal texts and relevant information, and proposing appropriate solutions and recommendations that expose the Russian violations of international law, attempt to stop these violations, and preserve the state unity and territorial integrity of Ukraine. The research concludes that the Russian military operations against Ukraine represent a blatant violation of international law and an undermining of universal security. As a consequence, this negatively affects the friendly relationships among the members of the international community, in accordance with the provisions and principles of contemporary international law and the resolutions of international legitimacy.
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