Tag: lawfare

Mariia Vladymyrova presents her work on Russian lawfare in the Arctic at the Law and Security Conference 2026 at the University of Copenhagen

On 27 August Mariia Vladymyrova attended the PhD symposium within the framework of the Law and Security Conference at the Law Faculty, University of Copenhagen. She presented her recent study of the coercive signaling elements embedded in the Russian regime of the Northern Sea Route. This regime provides a framework through which Moscow asserts its dominance in the Arctic and signals resolve and commitment by introducing escalatory threshold without resorting to the overt hostility (and cost) of militarized threats.

 

NATO Pirates in the Baltic Sea? Lawfare in Russian Deterrence Strategy

The chapter “NATO Pirates in the Baltic Sea? Lawfare in Russian Deterrence Strategy” explores how lawfare has become integral to Russia’s coercive signaling strategies. Mariia examines the escalating piracy rhetoric employed by Russian officials in response to European states’ detention of shadow fleet vessels suspected of damaging undersea infrastructure in the Baltic. This narrative reveals how the Kremlin appropriates the authority of international law to achieve strategic ends. By characterizing European navies as pirates—against whom international law grants any state universal jurisdiction—Moscow effectively threatens European navies with escalation and legitimizes potential use of force.

Please find the full text available in open access on the official page of the Russia Conference at the Baltic Defense College.

 

Mariia Vladymyrova delivers a lecture at the U.S. Naval War College