Can International law survive Putin’s war?
By Denys Honchar For centuries, war has been humanity’s cruel constant. It evolves with our technology and politics – but so does our effort to restrain it. Out of the wreckage of Europe’s bloodiest battles, we built rules to spare civilians, protect cultural heritage, and hold commanders accountable. That’s the essence of international humanitarian law (IHL) – a framework meant to bring a measure of order to the chaos of conflict. But in 2022, when Russia launched its full-scale invasion of Ukraine, that framework began to crack. The war has become the largest and most brutal conflict Europe has seen since World War II. Yet it’s also become something else: a catalyst. A stress test. A mirror reflecting just how unprepared our existing laws are for 21st-century warfare – and how urgently they need to change. A legal system born in blood Modern IHL dates back to 1864, when Swiss humanitarian Henry Dunant, horrified by the aftermath of the Battle of Solferino...
