Direct Participation in Hostilities

Viktoriia Roshchyna, a Ukrainian journalist whose reporting focused on crime, human rights and Russia’s actions in occupied Ukraine, died in Russian captivity. She was a freelance journalist, working for various independent news outlets such as Ukrainska Pravda, as well as the Ukrainian service Radio Free Europe. Viktoriia disappeared on 3 August 2023. She was captured in…

One of the more unusual features of international humanitarian law is its recognition that civilians—ordinary inhabitants of a territory—may spontaneously take up arms against an invading force and still qualify as lawful combatants. This is the concept of levée en masse: an exceptional status reserved for moments of extreme urgency, before civilians have time to organise themselves into…

In the days following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Ukraine’s Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Digital Transformation Mykhaylo Fedorov announced in a tweet the creation of an ‘IT Army’. According to reports, as many as 400, 000 people from across the world have joined. A list of targets has been published and…

As Russia began its invasion of Ukraine last week, much of the focus was, rightly, on Putin’s actions under international law, and the response of the Ukrainian military.  However, at the same time, media reports were also noting the increasing involvement of Ukrainian civilians in the defence of their country.  Initial reports spoke of civilian…