THE RUSSIAN AND UKRAINIAN CONFLICT IN PERSPECTIVE: INTERROGATING THE EFFICACY OF THE UNITED NATIONS IN SAFEGUARDING INTERNATIONAL PEACE AND SECURITY

The 24th of February, 2022, will go down in the annals of history as a day of grim sobriety and palpable disruption of the hitherto international rules‐ based order. It was the day Russia invaded Ukraine in defiance of the provisions of paragraph 4 of article 2 of the United Nations Charter of 1945 which unequivocally prohibits the threat or use of force by Member States of the United Nations (UN) against the territorial integrity or political independence of another sovereign state. This article seeks to interrogate the efficacy of the United Nations in safeguarding international peace and security against the backdrop of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Adopting the doctrinal and qualitative research methodologies, the article examines the measures taken by the Secretary General of the UN, the General Assembly, the Security Council, and the International Court of Justice (ICJ). The article finds that despite the various measures taken by the UN so far, the international armed conflict in Ukraine persists with impunity. The article also finds that the conflict has occasioned superfluous human suffering, wanton destruction of lives and infrastructure, and unbridled refugee crisis. Against this backdrop, the article vehemently makes a case for strategic legal and regulatory reforms so as to bolster the efficacy of the UN in realising its quintessential objective of promoting international peace and security for the benefit of mankind.