In its war with Ukraine, Russia has targeted the environment as its most insidious means of warfare.  It has blown up dams, flooded coal mines, burned down national forests, and even targeted the black sea dolphins that inhabit the waters off Ukraine’s coast. With an effort to obtain a peace agreement now underway, will the perpetrators of these attacks be brought to justice?  Where will they be tried?  And what law will apply? 

Professor Milena Sterio participated in an episode of the “Talking Foreign Policy” radio show, a co-production of CRWU School of Law and Cleveland’s NPR Station, WKSU 89.7 FM, which focused on prosecuting crimes against the environment in the context of the ongoing conflict in Ukraine.  The show was broadcast on Monday, March 3 at 9 a.m. and re-aired at 9 p.m., The show was hosted by CWRU Law Professor Michael Scharf, and it featured the following panelists, in addition to Professor Sterio:  Mark Ellis, Executive Director of the International Bar Association; Dr Paul Williams, American University Washington College of Law; Professor Michael Kelly, Creighton University Law School.  All of the panelists had been involved in the training of Ukrainian prosecutors and judges to try Russian environmental war crimes, which took place in Rzeszow, Poland. In October 2024.

Talking Foreign Policy is broadcast on Cleveland’s NPR Station, WKSU 89.7 FM in Cleveland, and its syndicates throughout Ohio. It is streamed worldwide from Ideastream Public Media. It is also available to listen to as a podcast anytime after it airs at this website. 

Talking Foreign Policy has aired quarterly since 2012. Recent episodes of the program have addressed such topical issues as the Possibility of a Chinese Invasion of Taiwan, Foreign Policy and the 2024 Presidential Election, the Ukraine Conflict’s Endgame, Responding to Global Warming, the International Indictment of Vladimir Putin, and Lessons from the Afghanistan Fiasco.