Countries would likely need to set up new courts to prosecute Vladimir Putin for illegally invading Ukraine – but this isn’t a sure bet he would ever be held accountable for his crimes.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy is introduced to the US Congress by Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi on March 16, 2022 in Washington, DC.
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The reasons for the prominence of the Ukraine war in the West are many – and include the Ukrainian government’s strategic efforts to tailor presentations of the conflict for Western sensibilities.
A vendor selling cereals in Nairobi.
Photo by Simon Maina/AFP via Getty Images
Gino Vlavonou, L’Université d’Ottawa/University of Ottawa
Maxime Mokom is an ordinary man who came to reflect a specific vision of the Central African society, one that exclude other fellow citizens in the name of being a ‘true central African’.
Russia’s ambassador to the UN, Vassily Nebenzia, raises his hand to veto a resolution condemning his country’s invasion of Ukraine, February 25 2022.
EPA-EFE/Justin Lane
India has stood apart from other major democracies in failing to offer a full-throated condemnation of Russia over its invasion of Ukraine. Here’s why.
A G5 Sahel meeting on Burkina Faso and Mali.
MINUSMA/Wikimedia Commons
An expert on the history and politics of the UN says that the Security Council’s failure to intervene in Ukraine is a “black eye,” but the panel’s inability to act is not a design flaw.
Millions of Syrians remain displaced from the conflict that began in 2011.
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Russia has used similar tactics in both countries, including bombings that flatten homes, schools, hospitals and key infrastructure. The humanitarian needs are vast.
500 million people live in 19 African countries deemed “water insecure”.
International Committee of the Red Cross workers prepare bags with bodies of government soldiers to be handed over in Donetsk, eastern Ukraine, in 2015.
AP Photo/Mstyslav Chernov
Lauren Carruth, American University School of International Service
Nearly all of the 129 aid workers killed on the job in 2021 were from the countries where they lost their lives.
Vladimir Putin celebrated Russia’s annexation of Crimea on March 18, 2022, the eighth anniversary of the move.
Mikhail Klimentyev/Sputnik/AFP via Getty Images
None of the available methods for holding Russian President Vladimir Putin accountable are likely to actually punish him, and they may even make new atrocities more likely.
Vladimir Putin has a history of flattening cities in time of conflict. But alleged war crimes in Chechnya and Syria never resulted in charges, let alone prosecutions. Will Ukraine be any different?