Russian Invasion of Ukraine: Illusion of Humanitarian Intervention

Abstract

This article argues that Russian invasion of Ukraine which began on 24 th February 2022 does not have any humanitarian character as was tried by Russian Federation to be one of the subtle justifications for its aggression. In the initial parts this article discusses about two fundamental norms of international law that are- Non-intervention and Protection of human Rights and how this creates an impasse for legal jurists which has led to widespread condemnation of Unilateral Humanitarian Intervention in legal fraternity with only minority arguing for its legitimacy. This article then assumes for discussion’s sake that Unilateral Humanitarian Intervention is legal and outlines the generally accepted criteria among its proponents which should be used to test if any such humanitarian intervention is genuine or not. Then it is shown using credible evidence that Russian invasion does not even meet the basic prerequisite given in the said criteria. This article finally concludes that even if Unilateral Humanitarian Intervention is assumed to be legal, still this invasion would not be legitimate as it does not satisfy the minimum condition for it to be