Pow Protections in Hybrid Warfare: The Failure of the Third Geneva Convention in Russia-Ukraine
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.70670/sra.v4i2.2295Keywords:
Prisoners of War, Third Geneva Convention, Hybrid Warfare, Russia-Ukraine, International Humanitarian Law, Combatant Status, Icrc, Torture, Command Responsibility, IHL ReformAbstract
The Third Geneva Convention of 1949 (GC III) is one of the most fully ratified pieces of international humanitarian law (IHL), providing non-derogable protection for prisoners of war (POWs). However, the Russia-Ukraine war (2022-2026) has brought to light evidence, systematically and institutionally, that these protections have failed — not in a few instances, but in a systematic way. This article focuses on three mutually reinforcing dimensions of the Ukraine conflict that have failed to uphold the protection of POWs under the GC III: the lack of clarity around combatant status under ‘hybrid warfare' in Ukraine, the systematic torture and inhuman and degrading treatment of Ukrainian POWs reported by several international monitoring mechanisms, and the deliberate denial of access to the ICRC in Ukraine which has exacerbated violations and hampered accountability. Based on an integrative review of peer-reviewed scholarship (2022-2026) and primary documents from the UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine, the OSCE Moscow Mechanism, and the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry, alongside new literature on the GC III jurisprudence, the article argues that the failure in Ukraine is not incidental but deliberate and structural, the result of hybrid warfare's exploitation of combatancy ambiguities, an institutional culture of legal disregard rooted in Soviet military tradition, and an enforcement architecture that is constitutionally incapable of compelling great-power compliance. A set of specific legal changes – such as broadening the definition of POW, expanding access to the ICRC, and strengthening the regime of command responsibility – is called for to restore GC III's protective role in the 'twenty first century armed conflict'.
References
Access to Justice in Eastern Europe. (2024). Combatant immunity and the Russian-Ukrainian war: Reopening the debate on a longstanding doctrine. Access to Justice in Eastern Europe. https://doi.org/10.33327/ajee-18-7.4-a000113
Baker, M., Baker, J., & Burkle, F. (2023). Russia's hybrid warfare in Ukraine threatens both healthcare and health protections provided by international law. Annals of Global Health, 89. https://doi.org/10.5334/aogh.4022
Balole, C. V., & Van Steenberghe, R. (2024). Enhanced labour protection for prisoners of war. International Review of the Red Cross, 106, 565–584. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1816383124000237
Bosch, S. (2024). Exploring the international humanitarian law status of foreign fighters in the Ukrainian International Legion of Territorial Defence. Potchefstroom Electronic Law Journal. https://doi.org/10.17159/1727-3781/2024/v27i0a14600
Davies, P. H. J. (2024). Counterintelligence and escalation from hybrid to total war in the Russo-Ukrainian conflict 2014–2024. Intelligence and National Security, 39, 496–514. https://doi.org/10.1080/02684527.2024.2329419
Droege, C. (2025). International humanitarian law and peace: A brief overview. International Review of the Red Cross. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1816383125000062
Flyvbjerg, B. (2001). Making social science matter: Why social inquiry fails and how it can succeed again. Cambridge University Press.
Freedman, L. (2023). Humanitarian challenges of great power conflict: Signs from Ukraine. Daedalus, 152, 40–51. https://doi.org/10.1162/daed_a_01991
Gunawan, Y., Wibowo, G. A., & Arumbinang, M. H. (2023). Foreign fighters in the Ukrainian armed conflict: An international humanitarian law perspective. Volksgeist: Jurnal Ilmu Hukum dan Konstitusi. https://doi.org/10.24090/volksgeist.v6i2.9315
Hasan, M., & Haque, M. I. (2023). Should unlawful combatants be considered as prisoners of war when captured? Journal of Law and Legal Reform. https://doi.org/10.15294/jllr.v4i1.64276
Henckaerts, J.-M., & Doswald-Beck, L. (2005). Customary international humanitarian law: Volume I — Rules. Cambridge University Press & ICRC. https://doi.org/10.1017/CBO9780511804700
Hosseinnejad, K., & Askary, P. (2022). The obligation to exercise "leniency" in penal and disciplinary measures against prisoners of war in light of the ICRC updated Commentary on the Third Geneva Convention. International Review of the Red Cross, 104, 1121–1147. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1816383122000157
Kaluzhna, O., & Shunevych, K. (2022). Liability mechanisms for war crimes committed as a result of Russia's invasion of Ukraine in February 2022: Types, chronicle of the first steps, and problems. Access to Justice in Eastern Europe. https://doi.org/10.33327/ajee-18-5.2-n000324
Kaplina, O. (2022). Prisoner of war: Special status in the criminal proceedings of Ukraine and the right to exchange. Access to Justice in Eastern Europe. https://doi.org/10.33327/ajee-18-5.4-a000438
Kapustnyk, V., Kryvenko, O., Andrushchenko, I., Lisovol, O., & Shablystyi, V. (2024). Challenges in applying international humanitarian law in contemporary armed conflicts: The case of Russia's war against Ukraine. Revista Amazonia Investiga. https://doi.org/10.34069/ai/2024.82.10.30
Keil, A. (2026). Review of: Humanitarian protection for prisoners of war and refugees in the long aftermath of the First World War, by Francesca Piana. History. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-229x.70103
Khoirunnisa, K., Matthew, B., Jubaidi, D., & Nugroho, A. Y. (2025). The Ukraine-Russia conflict: An international humanitarian law review of the involvement of foreign fighters. Social Sciences & Humanities Open. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ssaho.2025.101340
Khorram-Manesh, A., & Burkle, F. (2022). Civilian population victimization: A systematic review comparing humanitarian and health outcomes in conventional and hybrid warfare. Disaster Medicine and Public Health Preparedness, 17. https://doi.org/10.1017/dmp.2022.96
Kramer, M. (2025). The Soviet legacy and Moscow's disregard of international humanitarian law — The wellsprings of Russian war crimes in Ukraine. The Journal of Slavic Military Studies, 38, 1–38. https://doi.org/10.1080/13518046.2025.2463168
Lake, N., & Trerise, J. (2022). Coercion, interrogation, and prisoners of war. Journal of Military Ethics, 21, 151–161. https://doi.org/10.1080/15027570.2022.2114643
Lederman, Z. (2025). International humanitarian law and the immunity of hospitals in Gaza. Bioethics, 40, 12–20. https://doi.org/10.1111/bioe.13433
Libiseller, C. (2023). "Hybrid warfare" as an academic fashion. Journal of Strategic Studies, 46, 858–880. https://doi.org/10.1080/01402390.2023.2177987
Liebrenz, M., Bhugra, D., Buadze, A., Schleifer, R., Smith, A., & Van Voren, R. (2022). Mental health and welfare of prisoners of war and people living in detention in the Ukrainian conflict. The Lancet Psychiatry. https://doi.org/10.1016/s2215-0366(22)00106-7
Liebrenz, M., Buadze, A., Smith, A., & Schleifer, R. (2023). The Russo-Ukrainian war in 2023: Towards a renewed emphasis on the mental health of at-risk groups and forensic-psychiatric considerations. Forensic Science International: Mind and Law. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fsiml.2023.100115
Medvid, L., & Prokopchuk, P. (2025). Analysis of international treaties and regulatory acts of Ukraine governing the treatment of prisoners of war. Analytical and Comparative Jurisprudence. https://doi.org/10.24144/2788-6018.2025.02.186
Mumford, A., & Carlucci, P. (2022). Hybrid warfare: The continuation of ambiguity by other means. European Journal of International Security, 8, 192–206. https://doi.org/10.1017/eis.2022.19
Muradov, I. (2022). The Russian hybrid warfare: The cases of Ukraine and Georgia. Defence Studies, 22, 168–191. https://doi.org/10.1080/14702436.2022.2030714
Nazarenko, P., Baieva, L., & Semeniuk-Prybaten, A. (2023). Criminal responsibility for war crimes in the context of armed aggression against Ukraine. Economics. Finances. Law. https://doi.org/10.37634/efp.2023.7.1
Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe. (2022). Report under the Moscow Mechanism on alleged violations of international humanitarian and human rights law, war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in Ukraine. OSCE Office for Democratic Institutions and Human Rights. https://www.osce.org/odihr/515868
Orzeszyna, K. (2023). Convergence of international humanitarian law and international human rights law in armed conflicts. Studia Iuridica Lublinensia. https://doi.org/10.17951/sil.2023.32.3.237-252
Palomino, P. D. C. (2022). A new understanding of disability in international humanitarian law: Reinterpretation of Article 30 of Geneva Convention III. International Review of the Red Cross, 104, 1429–1454. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1816383122000169
Salman, H., Ismail, S. M., & Nordin, R. (2023). Prisoners of war: Classification and legal protection under international humanitarian law. UUM Journal of Legal Studies. https://doi.org/10.32890/uumjls2023.14.2.11
Siekiera, J. (2024). International humanitarian law and the war in Ukraine — Russian aggression and the legal-political possibilities of punishing the perpetrators. Kwartalnik Prawa Miedzynarodowego. https://doi.org/10.5604/01.3001.0054.4272
Strobel, V. (2024). Litigating and enforcing international humanitarian law before German courts: Public interest litigation via individual rights as a vehicle for access to justice in situations of armed conflict. Netherlands International Law Review, 71, 483–510. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40802-024-00270-8
Teplyashin, P., Skiba, A., & Maloletkina, N. (2024). Corrective action for prisoners of war: International legal, penal and other regulation. Vestnik of Saint Petersburg University: Law. https://doi.org/10.21638/spbu14.2024.207
Tshuma, D. (2024). African customs and traditions and the indigenization of international humanitarian law in armed conflict. International Review of the Red Cross, 106, 639–658. https://doi.org/10.1017/s1816383124000298
UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. (2023). Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine: 1 February–31 July 2023. United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/country-reports/report-human-rights-situation-ukraine
UN Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. (2024). Report on the human rights situation in Ukraine: 1 August 2023–31 January 2024. United Nations Human Rights Monitoring Mission in Ukraine. https://www.ohchr.org/en/documents/country-reports/report-human-rights-situation-ukraine
United Nations Human Rights Council. (2023). Report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Ukraine (A/HRC/52/62). United Nations. https://www.ohchr.org/en/hr-bodies/hrc/iiciukraine/index
Van Hout, M. (2022). Ensuring oversight and protection of life, health and well-being of all detained by the Russian Federation and in Russian controlled territories of Ukraine. Public Health, 213, 68–70. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.puhe.2022.10.001
Vasyliev, O. (2025). Adaptation of international humanitarian law to the challenges of hybrid warfare under martial law: The case of the Russian-Ukrainian war. Analytical and Comparative Jurisprudence. https://doi.org/10.24144/2788-6018.2025.01.139
Volokhov, O., Khomenko, O., Lysak, O., Onishchenko, N., & Savka, O. (2025). Contemporary armed conflicts in Ukraine as a challenge for IHL: Cases, prospects and paradigms. Revista de Cercetare si Interventie Sociala. https://doi.org/10.33788/rcis.90.10
Zabyelina, Y., & Boriak, V. (2026). War behind bars: Civilian prisoners and carceral warfare in Russia-occupied Ukrainian territories. The British Journal of Criminology. https://doi.org/10.1093/bjc/azag018
