Russia’s invasion of Ukraine which commenced on 24 February 2022 represented just the latest, albeit most devastating, intervention in a neighbouring former Soviet state. This article considers the legal justifications for Russia’s actions and finds them to be far from satisfactory. The claims advanced by Russia closely mirror those made in respect of its prior interventions in the former Soviet space, underlining an attempt to distort some of the most fundamental norms of international law in order to afford an air of legitimacy to its actions. Although it is too soon to conclude with any certainty what the longer term implications of the recent conflict will be, both politically and legally, it is apparent that it can be seen as part of a wider policy objective on Russia’s part to maintain and/or reassert influence over its ‘near abroad’. While in some respects indicative of the possible emergence of a new ‘Cold War’, the international reaction to its intervention in Ukraine suggests that any intention to manipulate or reconstitute legal norms in support of its agenda is meeting with mass rejection.

俄罗斯于 2022 年 2 月 24 日开始入侵乌克兰，这是对邻国前苏联国家的最新一次干预，尽管是最具破坏性的干预。本文考虑了俄罗斯行动的法律依据，并认为它们远不能令人满意。俄罗斯提出的主张与其先前对前苏联空间的干预非常相似，强调其企图歪曲一些最基本的国际法准则，以便为其行动提供合法性的气氛。尽管现在就确定近期冲突的长期影响在政治和法律上的影响还为时过早，但显然可以将其视为俄罗斯维持和/或维持和/或重申对其“近邻”的影响。