Communication of Olga Poyedynok, Associate Professor of the Department of International Law, with the media on the suspension of consular services
According to Olha Poedynok, Associate Professor of the Department of International Law at the Institute of International Relations, a legal analysis of this situation is not an easy task, as international law does not provide for the obligation of the state to provide its citizens with diplomatic or consular protection abroad, and the Constitution of Ukraine, although it states that "Ukraine guarantees care and protection to its citizens who are abroad", does not specify what forms such "care" and "protection" can take and whether they include the issuance of Ukrainian passports abroad.
However, the refusal to perform a particular consular action may affect the exercise of specific rights and freedoms contained in international human rights treaties to which Ukraine is a party (e.g., the right to respect for private and family life or freedom of movement). In the event of litigation (at the national or international level), each such case should be analysed individually, taking into account the extent to which the Ukrainian state has balanced the public interest in the context of the full-scale armed aggression of the Russian Federation with the private interests of an individual.
In addition, the individual situation of a particular Ukrainian man whose Ukrainian passport will become invalid due to the inability to extend its validity or obtain a new document abroad will depend on the position of the foreign state in whose territory he is located at the time the relevant issue arises.