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AUC IURIDICA, Vol 71 No 4 (2025), 277–292
ArticleDuty to Protect Motherland v. Men's Life, in Times of War: International Standards and Ukrainian Mistakes, as Caution for European Countries
Sergiy Panasyuk
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14712/23366478.2025.683
published online: 04. 12. 2025
abstract
From the start of the full-scale aggression of Russian troops into Ukrainian territory, European countries faced a real risk of invasion and should be prepared for war. After almost three years of resistance, the Ukrainian nation sacrificed hundreds of thousands of lives of its bravest sons, but not all of them were ready to die. Ukrainian governmental actions do not leave most Ukrainian men a chance to leave the country or refuse to go and die on the battlefield. Violating international principles and Ukrainian legislation provisions, the Ukrainian authority chose state security instead of men’s right to life and continues to do so. Such examples should be analysed and discussed to prevent similar human rights violations if war breaks out in European countries in the near future. Having similar constitutional provisions, some European countries are at real risk of repeating Ukrainian mistakes, so they should analyse their national legislation, using the Ukrainian example, to avoid human rights violations in the case of a future war in Europe.
keywords: duty to protect the motherland; right to life; human rights; right to conscientious objection; alternative service; conscription
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