The legal Problematics of the Russian-Ukrainian War

Summary

This study addresses the legal problematics raised by the Russian war on Ukraine from the perspective of international law, including: the legal conditioning of the Russian invasion of Ukraine; how a state may define certain events as threats to its national security that allows it to intervene militarily in the territory of another state, using concepts like the “minority pretext” or the “minority instrument” to justify its actions, as happened in the Crimea (of mostly Russian-speaking population) in 2014, and in Abkhazia and South Ossetia in 2008. The study also addresses the judicial bodies entrusted with hearing cases related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine; the value of the unilateral recognition of separatist entities in international law (South Ossetia and Abkhazia in 2008, Donetsk and Luhansk in 2022); how far the secession of “Donetsk” and “Luhansk” is legal from the perspective of international law; and finally whether Russia can be stripped of Security Council membership.