Russia and Ukraine

IHL Talks

UN Women/Aurel Obreja

This IHL Talk aims at shedding light on some of the legal issues stemming from the current armed conflict between Ukraine and Russia. As it is well-known, on 24 February 2022 Russian forces entered Ukraine, triggering a new phase of the international armed conflict which started in 2014. As a reaction, a growing number of states has provided assistance to Ukraine and has adopted increasingly severe sanctions against Russia.

First, the focus will be on the humanitarian impact of unilateral sanctions. Second, we will address challenges raised by the use of force against Ukraine, with a particular focus on the justifications provided by Russia. Lastly, we will analyse the conflict from an international humanitarian law perspective, focusing on instances of clear violations and more controversial ones.

Moderator

• Michael Strauss, Professor of International Law, Centre d'Etudes Diplomatiques et Stratégiques (CEDS) in Paris

Speakers

• Alena Douhan, United Nations Special Rapporteur on the negative impact of the unilateral coercive measures on the enjoyment of human rights
• Marco Roscini, Professor of International Law, Westminster Law School
• Chiara Redaelli, Research Fellow, Geneva Academy

About IHL Talks

The IHL Talks are a series of events, hosted by the Geneva Academy, on international humanitarian law and current humanitarian topics. Every two months, academic experts, practitioners, policymakers and journalists discuss burning humanitarian issues and their regulation under international law.

Get Ready: Our Resource Page on Ukraine

• Discover our resources and what our experts say about the situation in Ukraine, with regular updates to include new events, articles and comments.
• Rule of Law in Armed Conflict online portal (RULAC): we are constantly updating the entries related to the crisis: the international armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine, and the non-international armed conflicts in Eastern Ukraine with the self-proclaimed ‘People’s Republics’ of Donetsk and Luhansk. RULAC also provides information about the military occupation of Crimea by Russia since July 2014.

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