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Manifestly Unlawful: Why Russian Military Commanders Must Disobey A Nuclear Launch Order Against Ukraine, Christopher J. Hart

International Law Studies

Applying the international legal framework governing the use of nuclear weapons to the facts of the war in Ukraine leads to a clear answer to the question of whether the use of nuclear weapons in Ukraine by Russia would be legal. While the 1996 International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on the Threat or Use of Nuclear Weapons did not conclusively decide whether the use of nuclear weapons was per se illegal, by applying the legal framework articulated by the International Court of Justice to the facts of Russia’s war against Ukraine it is clear that any conceivable use of …