Ukraine and Violations of International Humanitarian Law – A Critical Analysis of the Amnesty International Report

On 4 August 2022, Amnesty International published its report ‘Ukraine: Ukrainian Fighting Tactics Endanger Civilians’, in which it accused Ukraine of violating international humanitarian law ‘by establishing bases and operating weapons systems in populated residential areas, including in schools and hospitals’ and in this way putting civilians at risk. According to the report, ‘[s]uch tactics violate international humanitarian law and endanger civilians, as they turn civilian objects into military targets. The ensuing Russian strikes in populated areas have killed civilians and destroyed civilian infrastructure’. The report sparked some controversies. The question that the author attempts to answer in this article is whether there are any factual or legal arguments supporting the conclusions of the report.