A Year of Writings on the Russia-Ukraine War

A compilation of my work on this topic, on the one-year anniversary of the start of Vladimir Putin's attempt to conquer Ukraine.

Today is the one-year anniversary of the start of Vladimir Putin's brutal effort to conquer Ukraine. While Russian aggression against Ukraine dates back to the seizure of Crimea and parts of the Donbass in 2014, last year's invasion vastly escalated the conflict, and led to large-scale death and destruction, and—even worse—extensive atrocities committed by Russian forces.

In this post, I compile links to my writings about the conflict over the last year. Most focus on the enormous refugee crisis it has triggered (the biggest in Europe since World War II, and one of the largest anywhere in the world since that time), as that is the aspect most closely related to my areas of expertise. But I have also written on a few other issues related to the conflict. In the first part of this post, I compile writings on refugee and immigration issues stemming the from the war. In the latter part, I compile other pieces. Unless otherwise noted, all of these works were published right here at the Volokh Conspiracy blog. I list them in chronological order.

I. Writings on Immigration and Refugee Issues

"Offer Asylum to Russian Soldiers Who Surrender," Mar. 1, 2022.

"Biden Grants Temporary Protected Status to Ukrainians in the US," Mar. 4, 2022

"How the Us Can Help Refugees (and Weaken Vladimir Putin)," New York Times, Mar. 8, 2022 (non-paywalled reprint here). This was probably my most widely read article about any issue related to the war.

"More on Offering Asylum to Russian Soldiers Who Surrender in Ukraine, Mar. 10, 2022

"US and Canada Expand Admission of Ukrainian Refugees," Mar. 24, 2022

"The Case for Opening Our Doors to Russians Fleeing Putin—as Well as Ukrainians," Mar. 27, 2022.

"By Accepting Ukrainian and Russian Refugees, Canada Can do Good and do Well," Globe and Mail, Apr. 12, 2022 (with Sabine El-Chidiac)

"Ukraine and Double Standards on Refugees," Apr. 24, 2022

"Biden Administration Takes Incremental Steps to Open Doors to Ukrainian and Russian Refugees," May 2, 2022

"A Double Standard Between Ukrainian and Afghan Refugees?," May 26, 2022

"New Wave of Russian Emigration is an Opportunity for the West—but one We Seem Likely to Flub," July 17, 2022

"Americans Should be Able to Sponsor Refugees Who Can Stay Permanently," Washington Post, July 18, 2022 (with Sabine El-Chidiac) (non-paywall version here)

"The Rise of Private Refugee Sponsorship," Aug. 6, 2022

"Don't Play into Putin's Hands by Barring Russians from the West—Instead, Let More in," Aug. 23, 2022

"Closing a Bureaucratic Loophole that Harms Ukrainian Refugees," Sept. 14, 2022

"Vladimir Putin's Partial Mobilization Order Strengthens the Case for Opening Western Doors to Russians Fleeing His Regime," Sept. 22, 2022

"Why (Most) Citizens Are Not "Responsible for the Actions of their State," Sept. 25, 2022 (critique of a common rationale for barring entry to Russians fleeing Putin's regime)

"Uniting for Ukraine Private Refugee Sponsorship Program Breaks Through Bureaucratic Red Tape," Nov. 27, 2022

"Russian Dissenters Fleeing Putin Often Face Abusive Immigration Detention Upon Arrival in the US," Nov. 30, 2022

"We Sponsored Refugees Under a New Biden Program. The Results Were Astonishing," Washington Post, Jan. 3, 2023 (non-paywall version here). This was probably my second-most influential piece on issues related to the war. It apparently led over 100 people to sign up as refugee sponsors in the Uniting for Ukraine program, according to data compiled by the Welcome.US sponsor matching site.

"Biden Expands Uniting for Ukraine Private Refugee Sponsorship Model to Include up to 30,000 Migrants Per Month from Cuba, Nicaragua, Venezuela, and Haiti," Jan. 5, 2023.

"Addressing Some Common Questions and Misconceptions About Uniting for Ukraine and Other Private Migrant Sponsorship Programs," Jan. 10, 2023

"Canada Grants Refugee Status to Russian Fleeing Conscription," Jan. 21, 2023

"Why Congress Should Pass a Ukrainian Adjustment Act," Feb. 22, 2023

I have also done a variety of podcasts and broadcast media interviews on migration and refugee issues arising from the war. For examples, see here, here, and here.

II. Writings on Other Issues Related to the War

"Law, Justice, and the Russia-Ukraine Conflict," Feb. 23, 2022 (post written just as the Russian attack began; I think it's still a helpful summary of the moral and legal issues at stake in the war).

"How to Fight Putin by Offering Russians 'a Million Little Carrots,'" Mar. 6, 2022

"Two Illiberal and Unjust Zelensky Policies the West Should Force Him to End," April 1, 2022. This drew more negative reactions than anything else I have written about the war. Still, I stand by it. Zelensky's government is vastly better than Putin's and deserves Western support in the war. But that doesn't justify overlooking its wrongs.

"The Case for Pursuing the Issue of Russian War Crimes in Ukraine—Even Though Putin is Highly Unlikely to Ever be Tried and Punished," April 10, 2022

"Law, Justice, and Russia's Attempted Annexation of Four Ukrainian Regions, Oct. 4, 2022

"The West Should Heed this Message from a Russian Prison," Feb. 16, 2023

"A Conflict Between Liberal Democracy and Authoritarian Nationalism: Implications of the Ideological Stakes in the Russia-Ukraine War," Feb. 24, 2023

I hope the war soon ends in a decisive Ukrainian victory, thus obviating the need to add many more items to this list. But I fear I may be compiling another list like it a year from now.