“Pravova derzhava”. Issue 37 (2026), pages 677–688.

DOI: 10.33663/0869-2491-2026-37-677-688

Kresin Оleksiy
The thesis on the “self-determination of the peoples of Ukraine” as the russian attempt to avoid responsibility for aggression

ISSN online: 2617-9776 print: 0869-2491

The oficial thesis of Russian diplomacy on the “self-determination of the peoples of Ukraine” is a key pseudo-legal construct that provided formal grounds for the annexation of Ukrainian territories to Russia and the latter’s partially successful denial of its aggression. Primitivization or ignoring this thesis as obviously worthless does not create a basis for understanding its roots, structure, manipulative appeal to the norms of international law, and the influence of this thesis on the oficial positions of many states. In this article, I analyze and summarize modern problems of understanding and realizing of the right of peoples to self-determination in international law. The task of the study is the legal assessment of the thesis of Russian diplomacy on the “self-determination of the peoples of Ukraine” in the context of the modern development of international law. The following methods were used in the study: analysis, synthesis, systemic, structural, reconstruction. Conclusions. Modern international law offers some ambiguous assumptions regarding possible exceptions to the general approach regarding the grounds and implementation of the right of peoples to self-determination and its correlation with the principle of territorial integrity and political unity of states, in particular, the possibility of the so-called correctional secession for regional communities that cannot be unambiguously defined as peoples. The right to such self-determination can be considered outside the colonial context and placed above the principle of preserving the territorial integrity of states. In fact, the main criterion in this case is whether the state authorities equally represent the interests of different groups of its population. This constitutes a “gray zone” of international law as a field for manipulation and falsification of information and its qualification. Russia uses this, disguising aggression as assistance to newly invented peoples in exercising their right to self-determination. The obvious bankruptcy of the thesis regarding “self-determination of the peoples of Ukraine” does not eliminate the need for its detailed international legal qualification in order to expose its essence.

Keywords: international law, people, right to self-determination, correctional secession, territorial integrity of state, political unity of state, aggression, russian aggression against Ukraine.

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Дата першого надходження рукопису до видання: 11.02.2026
Дата прийнятого до друку рукопису після рецензування: 03.03.2026
Дата публікації: 24.03.2026