THE FORMATION AND EVOLUTION OF BRITISH DISCOURSE ON THE INTERNATIONAL LEGAL RESPONSIBILITY OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION FOR WAR CRIMES IN UKRAINE (2014–2025)

Nazarii Lutsenko,

Ph.D. (History), Assistant Professor,

Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, Kyiv, Ukraine

 

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17721/2524-048X.2026.34.7

 

Abstract. The purpose of the study is to analyze the transformation of British political and parliamentary rhetoric regarding the international legal responsibility of the Russian Federation for war crimes committed in Ukraine in 2014–2025.

The research methodology is based on a combination of the principles of historicism and objectivity, systemic and comparative analysis. The source base consists of parliamentary debates in the House of Commons and the House of Lords of the United Kingdom, government statements, speeches by British officials, and official materials of British state institutions.

The scientific novelty of the study lies in an attempt to trace the evolution of the British official discourse on the events in Ukraine from the beginning of Russian aggression in 2014 to 2025. The article also outlines the relationship between the evolution of British rhetoric and the growing role of the United Kingdom in international initiatives aimed at bringing Russia to justice.

Conclusions. The study demonstrates that the British official position on the events in Ukraine in 2014–2025 underwent a significant transformation. Cautious political and diplomatic formulations characteristic of 2014 were replaced by a clearly articulated legal rhetoric in 2022, following the launch of Russia’s full-scale invasion of Ukraine. The analysis of parliamentary debates and government statements shows that already in 2014 London consistently defined Russia’s actions as violations of Ukraine’s sovereignty and international law, although without actively employing the category of «war crimes». After the beginning of the full-scale invasion on 24 February 2022, the rhetoric of British government officials and parliamentarians became considerably more explicit and legally framed, as reflected in the intensified use of concepts derived from international criminal law. This evolution reflects not only a response to the scale and nature of Russian aggression, but also a deeper reassessment by the United Kingdom of its own role in the field of international justice and the promotion of accountability for international crimes. Since 2022, the United Kingdom has also provided financial and advisory support to Ukraine in the investigation of war crimes committed by Russian military forces.

Keywords: United Kingdom, Ukraine, war crimes, Russo-Ukrainian war, parliamentary debates.

 

Submitted 08.12.2025

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