Russia's continued assault on the law of war

Russia continues to flaunt international humanitarian law (the law of war) by prosecuting Ukrainian prisoners of war for privileged acts of warfare. The lengthy list of such Russian trials of Ukrainian fighters is defective in two ways: first, the law of war provides broad immunity for lawful acts of warfare and second, prosecutions of unlawful acts committed by enemy fighters must meet fair trial guarantees. 

While media accounts of the details of claimed offenses tried in Russian courts are scarce, it's worth knowing that the law of war provides broad swaths of immunity from criminal accountability for acts of warfare -- violence -- by members of military units under responsible command as long as such acts are not otherwise prohibited by the law of war (such as torturing or killing prisoners, intentionally targeting civilians, etc.)  The latest Russian sham trial of Ukrainian soldiers resulted in an 18-year prison sentence for an unfortunate member of the Ukrainian military's Azov Battalion. While this unit is not without its own controversy, per media accounts this unit is part of the Ukrainian military under responsible command, and its members entitled to combatant immunity for lawful acts of warfare. 

Finally, while the law of war demands that war crimes (serious violations of the laws and customs of war) be criminally prosecuted, prosecutions of prisoners of war for such crimes must be conducted in judicial proceedings that provide fair trial guarantees and are the same proceedings in which the prosecuting state (here, Russia) would prosecute its own military members. Neither requirement appears to be met as Russia continues to further subvert and degrade the law of war, and the rule of law in general, in its heinous war of aggression against Ukraine and global stability.