The Seizure of the Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant as a War Crime Against Radioecological Security: Criminological Analysis of the Mechanism of Commission

• Published in: Вісник Харківського національного університету внутрішніх справ Vol. 109; no. 2; pp. 270 - 285
• Main Author: Ternavska, A. A.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English; Ukrainian
• Published: Kharkiv National University of Internal Affairs 23.07.2025
• Subjects: aggression; armed conflict; contextual element; criminogenic situation; decision; mechanism of individual criminal behaviour; motive; radioecological safety; war crime
• ISSN: 1999-5717; 2617-278X
• DOI: 10.32631/v.2025.2.23

The article is devoted to the study of the mechanism of individual criminal behaviour, which manifested itself in the seizure of the Chornobyl nuclear power plant by russian military personnel and occupation of the adjacent territory. The characteristic of the complex motivational mechanism of this crime determination is given, which combines elements of indoctrination, the desire for recognition, as well as the desire to ensure both social and physical security, and to confirm membership in a social group. Additional arguments are presented to prove that the key decision to seize the station in the context of Russia's act of aggression against Ukraine was based on the historically determined, traumatically falsified, sentimental and personalist distorted nature of the desire for the conquest of its former metropolises, including Ukraine, by aggressive russia. This motivation is the deepest and is manifested in the activities of the top military and political leadership of the aggressor country, which is directly wanted by the International Criminal Court on suspicion of war crimes by vladimir putin and his circle of associates. Conformist motives are driven by the fear of being excluded from a social group. It is fear that pushes a person to act in accordance with behavioural patterns that are acceptable in a particular group. It is identified and substantiated that the mechanism of the plant seizure includes related war crimes – causing damage to the environment due to a significant increase in radiation levels as a result of the movement of aggressor equipment, as well as cruel treatment of civilians, encroachment on property in the context of armed conflict (abduction, destruction and damage to property not caused by military necessity). The role of the criminogenic situation and post-criminal behaviour is described and explained. The gaps in the system of criminal legal protection of radioecological safety from war crimes in terms of theft and export outside the exclusion zone of ionising radiation sources are identified. The ways to eliminate this gap are proposed.