The consolidation of modern humanistic values, which lie at the heart of the noblest manifestations of human civilisation and have evolved and become entrenched at all levels of its existence - both incrementally and through revolutionary upheavals - over the past millennia, has regrettably not led, as of the early twenty-first century, to the eradication of such destructive phenomena as international armed conflicts. These conflicts, in the view of certain states and their leaders, continue to be regarded as a permissible and, at times, even effective means of resolving inter-state disputes and/or achieving geopolitical objectives. A stark example of this is the unprovoked, full-scale military aggression launched by the Russian Federation against Ukraine on 24 February 2022, the absurdity of whose justification and the scale of the damage, destruction, and human suffering inflicted upon the Ukrainian state and its citizens are profoundly disturbing. Against this backdrop, the study of the current international legal framework governing the mechanisms for reparation for damage caused by internationally wrongful acts, as well as the examination of existing practices in the establishment and functioning of various specialised international commissions and tribunals addressing claims from states, individuals, and legal entities harmed by such acts, acquires both theoretical and practical significance. This dissertation is devoted to establishing and analysing the principles and procedures governing state responsibility for internationally wrongful acts, examining relevant international experience, and formulating principles and specific components of a special compensation mechanism for the reparation of damage caused by the Russian Federation’s armed aggression against Ukraine. The dissertation consists of three chapters, comprising nine subsections. The study systematically explores issues related to the reparation of damage resulting from internationally wrongful acts, beginning with the examination of foundational methodological concepts such as “international legal order,” “international order,” “principles of the modern international legal order,” and “internationally wrongful act.” It proceeds to analyse the experience of the establishment and functioning of various specialised international commissions and tribunals that have considered claims brought by affected states and their natural and legal persons - including the Iran- United States Claims Tribunal (IUSCT), the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC), and the Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission (EECC). These bodies not only adjudicated relevant claims but also developed effective mechanisms for the formation and disbursement of compensation from specially established funds or through other means at the expense of states found responsible for internationally wrongful acts. The dissertation further offers a detailed analysis of the creation and potential operation of a special compensation mechanism for the reparation of damage suffered by Ukraine. The object of this study is the set of social relations arising from the reparation of damage caused by armed aggression. The subject of the research encompasses scholarly perspectives, ideas, concepts, principles, and norms of international law, as well as the international practice of institutional and legal mechanisms for compensation in cases of armed aggression, with particular attention to the damage resulting from the armed aggression of the Russian Federation. Based on the conducted research on the principles of the modern global legal order, it has been determined that the principles of the peaceful settlement of international disputes between states, the refraining from the threat or use of force in their international relations, the inviolability of borders, and territorial integrity are inherently and closely interconnected. At the same time, they are founded on the international obligations undertaken by states under the UN Charter and other treaties, as well as derived from established norms of customary international law. Their interpretation and practical application constitute a complex, multi-tiered process, requiring recourse to the precedent-based practice of international courts, special commissions, and tribunals, as well as consideration of the outcomes of doctrinal consensus - where such consensus has been reached on a specific issue or a particular hermeneutic problem and articulated in the works of academic collectives or individual authoritative scholars. The author asserts that the international community, represented by the United Nations General Assembly, has recognized - and the International Court of Justice has confirmed in a relevant ruling - the fact that the Russian Federation has violated fundamental principles of international law and the global legal order through its aggressive war of conquest against Ukraine, its violation of Ukraine’s sovereignty, borders.
