Russia | ANZSIL Perspective

Lyophilization and Lawfare in Ukraine v. Russia

by Juliette McIntyre | 6 Apr 2023

The Allegations of Genocide under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide (Ukraine v. Russia) case was instituted on 27 February 2022, a mere three days after the unlawful invasion of Ukraine got underway. On the one-year anniversary of these events, it is worth reflecting on what role of the International Court of Justice can play while Ukraine and Russia remain engaged in active, tragic, warfare. The case concerns the justifications put forward for Russia’s purported ‘special military operation’ on the territory of Ukraine. President Putin’s television address in the hours before the invasion was launched alleged the perpetration of ‘genocide’ by the...

The war in Ukraine and international law: Prosecuting the Crime of Aggression

by Yuliya Mik | 6 Apr 2023

As the first anniversary of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine has just passed, there are few signs of the war coming to an end in the near future. Readers will recall that the conflict between Russia and Ukraine – which has been ongoing since 2014 – took a significant turn on 24 February 2022, with Russia’s military invasion of Ukraine. Since then, as has been widely reported, Russia has conducted, and continues to launch, numerous attacks against civilians and civilian infrastructure in Ukraine, including ongoing missile strikes targeting residential blocs, hospitals and other civilian objects, and Ukraine’s energy infrastructure. In light of Russia’s ongoing war against Ukraine, the calls to...

BOOK REVIEW: Secondhand Time by Svetlana Alexievich

by Alberto Alvarez-Jimenez | 10 Sep 2022

Few books help us understand Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as well as Second-Hand Time, authored by the Ukrainian-born Belarusian writer Svetlana Alexievich (London, Fitzcarraldo Editions 2016). Based on hundreds of interviews, it collects the voices of many individuals on the impact of the Soviet Union’s collapse on multiple segments of Russian society, from the powerful to the anonymous, in Moscow and in the periphery of the Union, for the old and the young, from generals to civilians. What is the connection between understanding the present and recent past of Russia and international law? It is trite to say that States’ international decisions are intimately connected with domestic...