Mykhaylo Shepitko

Aggressive War against Ukraine: Rural and Urban Safety in the context of National and Global Security

Abstract: The paper is devoted to reviewing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals in connection with the aggressive war against Ukraine, launched by Russia on 24 February 2022. War in the heart of Europe affects global and national security and rural and urban security. It started to be clear not only in connection with the threat of expansion of the war to NATO countries but also because of the blocking of trade cooperation and routes that made it possible to provide separate regions of the world with food and clean water.

The unblocking of the maritime trade route in the Black Sea and Ukraine's initiative "Grain from Ukraine" made it possible to implement the UN plan to stabilize the food prices on world markets and prevent famine for millions of the world population. As a result, 11 million tonnes of Ukrainian agricultural products have been shipped to 38 countries. Only at the end of 2022 Ukraine, on its own initiative, sent three ships to Ethiopia and Somalia to neutralize the danger of famine. Ukraine plans to send 60 more ships to Ethiopia, Sudan, South Sudan, Somalia, Congo, Kenya, Yemen and other countries. This grain and other food were grown on the fertile fields of Ukraine during the aggressive war, when Russian soldiers, violating the rules and customs of the war, destroyed the infrastructure of cities and villages and bombed and mined the fields of rural regions.

During the war, the Russian soldiers blocked riverbeds (Dnieper, Siverskyi Donets, etc.), blew up and used water reservoirs to remove the possibility of obtaining clean water for the people of Ukraine.

Special attention from the international community is also devoted to nuclear safety in Ukraine. During the war, Russian soldiers fired by its artillery 74 times at the nuclear reactor «Neutron Source» in Kharkiv. They occupied the Chernobyl Nuclear Power Plant (which was returned under Ukrainian control after the looting) and the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant (used as a military and war ground by them).

Thus, the connection of all types of security affected by Russia's aggressive war against Ukraine is obvious. All demonstrated examples are made possible through their evaluation as war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. Because of this, international, national, and foreign law enforcement bodies and courts (tribunals) are involved in collecting, fixing and evaluating evidence. Non-governmental organizations that aim to support justice authorities in collecting evidence and ensuring its security could also play an essential and new role in future trials.

Professor Mykhaylo Shepitko is a professor in the Department of Criminal Law at Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University and a Leading Staff Researcher of Аcademician Stashis Scientific Research Institute for the Study of Crime Problems (Kharkiv, Ukraine). He is secretary of the Ukrainian National Group of INGO "International Association of Penal Law" (Paris, France), counsellor-secretary of the INGO "Criminalists Congress" (Kharkiv, Ukraine) and member of the Ukrainian Association of Criminal Law.

Professor Mykhaylo Shepitko's specialization is criminal law, international criminal law and criminalistics (forensic sciences). He has a particular interest in crimes against justice and war crimes. He is the author of over 200 peer-reviewed publications connected with his scientific interest. He is a member of the Editorial Board of A First Printed Criminalist and Archives of Criminology and Forensic Sciences journals. He co-authored the Encyclopedia of Criminal Law, Criminalistics and Forensic Sciences (2021), a Textbook on Criminalistics. Volume I (2016), Criminal Justice in Latin Phrases and Terms (2021), Criminal Policy in the Sphere of Supporting of Justice Bodies Activities (monograph, 2021), Modern Measure of Criminal Law (monograph, 2023) and author/co-author of monographs on related topics.

Professor Mykhaylo Shepitko was a visiting professor at the Catholic University of Lublin (Lublin, Poland) and Mykolas Romeris University (Vilnius, Lithuania). He is the founder and member of the Sunflowers Project, which aims to collect information concerning crimes committed in Ukraine since 24 February 2022 (https://projectsunflowers.org).

Prof. Dr Mykhaylo Shepitko graduated from Yaroslav Mudryi National Law University (with an LLM degree) and Аcademician Stashis Scientific Research Institute for the Study of Crime Problems (PhD in Law and Full Doctor of Law degrees).

E-mail: shepitko.michael@gmail.com