Foreign fighters in the framework of international armed conflict between Russia and Ukraine

Abstract

The situation in which foreign nationals take part in armed conflicts in favour of one side or another is not new. The recent increase in the number of foreign nationals travelling abroad to take part in armed conflicts, such as in the Middle East, has attracted the attention of scholars as to the reasons for this phenomenon. More and more publications are dealing with issues related to the status of foreign fighters, as well as rights and obligations of different states towards them. However, neither a universal definition of the term foreign fighter has been proposed, nor does a comprehensive analysis exist of the status of foreign fighters in the situation of an armed conflict. At the same time, reality continues to provide new challenges for international lawyers. The ongoing armed conflict on Ukrainian territory is characterized by a very high level of foreign nationals' involvement (on all sides), as well as other specific features that were not too common in previous conflicts. In the present chapter, we will try to answer the question about whether existing international humanitarian lawis prepared for such challenges, and whether the introduction of a "foreign fighter" category makes sense in this context.