International and European Law in the Wake of the Invasion of Ukraine – One Year On

Editorial

Abstract

On 24 February 2022, the Russian Federation launched a large-scale military invasion of Ukraine, in what it referred to as a ‘special military operation’, but which was described by the United Nations General Assembly as an act of hostility against a sovereign state during a special emergency session that began on 28 February 2022 – only the 11th such session convened since the founding of the United Nations. The large-scale Russian invasion followed on from the interstate armed conflict in the Donetsk and Luhansk regions, which began in 2014 with Russia’s annexation of Crimea. In the weeks following the military invasion, a multitude of events unfolded on the international stage: the continuation and escalation of attacks carried out by Russian troops, the tireless defence of the territory by Ukrainian authorities and citizens, a humanitarian crisis involving displaced persons that rapidly rose to several million, the condemnation of the aggression by the overwhelming majority of members of the international community, the imposition of sanctions on the Russian Federation by various international organisations, and rulings by international courts on the conflict, amongst others.