Even though the Vienna
Convention of 1961 includes protections for diplomatic and consular properties
in active war-zones, Russia’s attack of 629 missiles and drones on Kiev,
Ukraine, came within 50 meters of the E.U.’s diplomatic offices there late on
August 27, 2025, severely damaging them but killing nobody in the E.U.’s
delegation. The two bombs that hit nearby were enough to give the Europeans the
impression that President Putin of Russia did not consider himself bound by
international law in war. To the extent that fighting between two sovereign
countries, Russia and Ukraine, fits Hobbes’ infamous state of nature,
international law is really not law at all, for jurisprudence, including
mutually acknowledged rights, requires an overarching polity to enact and
enforce laws. So the E.U. could not enjoy a right to be sparred death
and destruction at its diplomatic offices in Kiev during the war there, but the
Union could claim another right at Russia’s expense within the E.U.’s
territory.
A The full essay is at "Russia Damages E.U. Diplomatic Offices."
