RUSSIA-UKRAINE WAR AND VIOLATION OF INTERNATIONAL HUMANITARIAN LAWS

ABSTRACT One of the worst international crises in recent memory is the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, which has raised serious concerns about potential violations of intern!ational humanitarian law. There have been multiple reports of war crimes, extensive civilian casualties, and infrastructure loss as a result of the fighting. The necessity to examine how the war has compromised funda!mental tenets of international human!itarian law and the efficiency of international responses in reducing such abuses served as the impetus for this investigation. Examining the degree to which the Russia-Ukraine war has resulted in violations of intern@ational humanitarian law and assessing the responses of intern!ational sanctions and interventions to these violations were the study's goals. The th1eoretical basis was Realism Theory, which placed a strong emphasis on national interest, power struggles, and the limits of morality in international politics. The study's conclusions showed that both Russia and Ukraine had committed systematic violations of international human!itarian law, with Russia being mostly to blame for intentional assaults on protected institutions and civilian targets. Due mainly to political limitations and a lack of enforcement authority, international sanctions and legal proceedings have had little effect on preventing violence or guaranteeing justice. The study concluded that the current global legal and diplomatic framework is insufficient to prevent or respond to violations of humanitarian law in modern warfare. It recommends that the international community, through the United Nations and the International Criminal Court, should establish more effective and binding enforcement mechanisms for prosecuting war crimes and violations of international humanitarian law. Keywords: Russia–Ukraine War, International Humanitarian Law, War Crimes, Sanctions, Realism Theory.