Sovereignty, Patrimony and International Law: Russia’s Attack on Ukraine - Hardcover

Dragneva, Rilka; Wolczuk, Kataryna

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1529242797 ISBN 13: 9781529242799

Publisher: Bristol University Press, 2026

Synopsis

This book offers a concise yet in-depth analysis of Russia’s complex―though consistent―strategic approach to Ukraine over the past 30 years, placing it within a broad historical and geopolitical context.

It reveals how Russia’s ambitions toward Ukraine have been deeply rooted in a patrimonial paradigm―marked by a long-standing tradition of instrumentalizing sovereignty and (international) law. The book explores Moscow’s use of ‘legal smokescreens’ to gradually erode Ukraine’s sovereignty. It argues that the full-scale invasion was the culmination of Russia’s failure to assert its patrimonial claims through legal and diplomatic means over 1991-2021, offering an anatomy of that failure.

About this title

About the Authors

Rilka Dragneva-Lewers is Professor of International Legal Studies at the University of Birmingham.

Kataryna Wolczuk is Professor of East European Politics at the University of Birmingham and Associate Fellow at the Russia and Eurasia Programme, Chatham House.

Edition details

• Publisher: Bristol University Press
• Publication date: 2026
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1529242797
• ISBN 13: 9781529242799
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 196