A Curious Aggression Trial in Ukraine

Abstract The trial of Russian military servicemen Alexander Alexandrov and Yevgeny Yerofeyev, which took place from 2015 until 2016 in Ukraine and concerned charges, among other things, of waging a war of aggression, has been overlooked in the discourse on international criminal law. Despite the contentious nature of the verdict with respect to its interpretation of the crime of aggression, the judgment should be recorded in the history of international criminal law for reviving the crime from decades-long dormancy. It is likely this is the first domestic criminal trial on charges of aggression to result in a conviction. The article analyses the key conclusions of the judgment, from the points of view of domestic criminal law in Ukraine and international criminal law, and makes a number of policy recommendations.