Ukraine’s weaponization of the private sector is inflicting pain on Russia—and creates a precedent that may shape the future of war. Ukraine’s Lawfare Project is a fascinating window into a war that is occurring in the legal, psychological, and information realms as much as on the battlefield.
Things look bleak for Ukraine as a Russian invasion looms. In one domain, however, Ukraine says that it is “ fighting quite well .” Ukraine has developed a “ Lawfare Project ” against Russia, designed to use law to achieve military objectives and delegitimize adversary actions. Ukraine has gone so far as to publicize its comprehensive “legal confrontation” tactics on a dedicated website. Ukraine’s lawfare presents a fascinating window into a war that is occurring in the legal, psychological, and information realms as much as it does on the battlefield. Its novel weaponization of the private sector is inflicting pain on Russia—and creates a precedent that may shape the future of war. Ukraine’s lawfare strategy turns one of Putin’s favored tactics against him. Russia has long employed lawfare to substantiate its aggression toward neighboring states and territories. Russia has historically adopted laws to justify “humanitarian operations” as part of its “responsibility to protect” Russian-friendly populations—whether or not they are ethnically Russian, Russian Orthodox, or Russian-speakers. It did so in Moldova in 1992, Georgia in 2008 and 2014, Syria since 2011, and Ukraine in 2014. In 2018, the Duma retroactively justified Russia’s annexation of Crimea by passing a law commemorating 1783 as the date of Crimea’s “accession” to the Russian empire. To invade Crimea in 2014, Russia used “little green men,” special forces without uniforms or insignia required of combatants under international law, so it could plausibly deny responsibility for the conflict. Meanwhile, a draft law was waiting in the Duma that conferred automatic citizenship to populations of Ukraine who met certain historical, cultural, or linguistic criteria. Russia then distributed passports in Crimea to boost the numbers of Russian citizens there. Ukraine is now using lawfare to fight back and undercut Russia’s claims of legitimacy. Ukraine has launched lawfare offensives on public and private fronts. In the public international law realm, Ukraine has filed suit in the International Court of Justice accusing Russia of a “campaign of cultural erasure” against Crimean Tatars and ethnic Ukrainians in Crimea in violation of the Convention for the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, as well as violations of the International Convention for the Suppression of Financing of Terrorism.
