| Article title | “Self-Determination of the Peoples of Ukraine” as the Russian Pseudo-Legal Construct |
|---|---|
| Authors |
Oleksiy Kresin
Doctor of Law, Professor,
Corresponding Member of the International Academy of Comparative Law
(Kyiv, Ukraine)
ORCID ID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4016-6596
okresin@gmail.com
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| Magazine name | Legal journal «Law of Ukraine» (Ukrainian version) |
| Magazine number | 10 / 2025 |
| Pages | 174 - 191 |
| Annotation | The study is devoted to the consideration of the main thesis of Russian propaganda and at the same time the official position of the Russian Federation regarding the “self-determination of the peoples of Ukraine”. This thesis is based on the manipulation with the principles and norms of international law, insufficiently regulated by “grey zones” of the latter, as well as on the falsification of Ukrainian legal and political realities. The thesis regarding the “self-determination of the peoples of Ukraine” in the context of the technologies of controlled chaos and hybrid war used by Russia is considered. The concept of “protection of the will of the peoples of Ukraine” as the main justification for Russian aggression is analyzed. It is demonstrated that the thesis on the realization of the right of the people to self-determination in application to the population of the regions of Ukraine is an attempt by Russia to avoid responsibility for aggression. The legal untenability of the thesis on the existence of the “Crimean”, “Donetsk”, “Luhansk”, “Zaporizhzhya” and “Kherson” peoples is argued. |
| Keywords | people; self-determination of peoples; principles of international law; hybrid war; aggression |
| References | Bibliography Authored books 1. Grygoriev M, Euromaidan: the essence and consequences of the anti-constitutional coup in Ukraine in 2014 (Mezhdunarodnye Otnoshenia 2024) (in Russian). Edited books 2. Kress C, ‘The State Conduct Element’, The Crime of Aggression: A Commentary (C Kress, S Barriga (eds), Cambridge University Press 2017). 3. Kresin O V, ‘Main kinds of hybrid threats and legal bases for constructive interaction of state’ institutes and society’, National resilense of Ukraine: strategy of response for challenges and prevention of hybrid threats: national report (Ivan Kuras Institute of Political and Ethno- national Studies, 2022) (in Ukrainian).Journal articles 4. Kresin O V, Kresina I O, ‘The People as a Subject of International Law’ [2018] 3 Jus Gentium. 5. Hrytsenko A, ‘Theory of chaos in foreign policy planning’ [2024] 73 Actual issues of politics (in Ukrainian). 6. Kresin O, ‘Contemporary understanding of hybrid threats and methods of conductiong wars’ [2022] 83 Scientific Herald of NA SBU (in Ukrainian). Conference papers 7. Kresin O, Kresina I, ‘The people as the subject of international law’, Human rights: philosophical, legal theory, and political science dimensions: articles collection (Medytsyna i Pravo 2018) (in Ukrainian). Dictionaries 8. Padalka S, ‘Pro zasady derzhavnoi movnoi polityky, Zakon Ukrainy Pro zasady derzhavnoi movnoi polityky vid 3 lypnia 2012’, Entsyklopediia istorii Ukrainy: Dodatkovyi tom. ‒ Kn. 1: A–Ia (V Smolii (holova redkol) ta in, Naukova dumka 2021) (accessed 27.10.2025) (in Ukrainian). Newspaper articles 9. Tóth T A, ‘Sergey Lavrov Gave an Exclusive Interview to Magyar Namzet’. Magyar Namzet. July 7, 2025. URL: https://magyarnemzet.hu/english/2025/07/sergey-lavrov-gave-an- exclusive-interview-to-magyar-nemzet#google_vignette |
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