“Congratulations, you are Being Liberated. Please do not Resist”

Abstract

Abstract The protection of nationals under international law has long been a controversial one, with various states attempting to justify the deployment of troops under the guise of protecting their citizens. While such interventions were historically acceptable under international law, their contemporary legality is rather more dubious. Such controversy is even more problematic given Russia’s recent invocation of the need to protect Russian citizens as one of its justifications for the invasion of Ukraine in 2022. This article charts the nuances of the protection of nationals under international law before turning to Russia’s own stance on the use of force to protect both Russian citizens and what it deems its “compatriots abroad”, including passportisation. Through careful analysis of both Russia’s foreign policy and international law, it applies the contemporary law relating to the protection of nationals to Russia’s invasions of Georgia in 2008 and Ukraine in 2014 and 2022 and concludes that Russia’s claims to be protecting its nationals have no validity under international law.