Russia’s recent arrest of Ukrainian scientist Leonid Pshenichnov casts a dark shadow over Russia’s engagement in the Antarctic Treaty System. Ukraine’s ambassador to Australia made a statement about the arrest in September during last month’s Hobart meeting of the Commission for the Conservation of Marine Living Resources (CCAMLR). Pshenichnov has been a Ukrainian representative to the Scientific Committee of CCAMLR since 2003, and has led Ukraine’s CCAMLR science team for 20 years.
Leaving aside the legal validity of the arrest itself under national and international law (he was detained in the Russian-occupied city of Kerch in Crimea), the charges against Pshenichnov, pictured below, are remarkable and convey not only Russia’s recent geopolitical stance within the Antarctic Treaty System and more broadly internationally, but also reveal a domestic Russian perception of its own political fragility.
Pshenichnov, it appears, is charged with “high treason” because of Ukraine’s ongoing support for Antarctic marine protected area proposals as well as potential steps by CCAMLR to regulate the harvesting of krill. It should be noted that Pshenichnov is from Kerch, Crimea, which was illegally annexed by Russia in 2014. Despite this, he has been attending CCAMLR Scientific Committee meetings on behalf of Ukraine up until the time of his arrest a month before this year’s meeting.
An English translation of the Russian indictment says Pshenichnov defected to the enemy’s side by participating in Ukraine’s delegation to CCAMLR meetings. Through that participation, and in providing scientific advice as part of the Ukraine delegation to the CCAMLR meetings, he has allegedly committed “high treason” due to:
- Ukraine’s support for new conservation methods for krill fishing. The indictment says these new krill fishing measures would enable Ukrainian vessels to extract krill in greater quantities, making Russian harvesting economic infeasible;
- Ukraine’s support of marine protected areas because of, to quote the translation of the indictment, the “active use by representatives of the United States and the Anglo-Saxon bloc countries of the Ukrainian delegation to promote initiatives for the creation of extensive marine protected areas in the Antarctic region”. The indictment says that the creation of marine protected areas would result in prohibiting any fishing or other economic activities in these areas and would allow foreign states to restrict Russian activities in promising areas of industrial fishing;
- Ukraine’s support for marine protected areas would also “establish control over a strategically important sector of the World Ocean, and result in the loss of opportunities for Russia to exploit hydrocarbon resources on the continental shelf of Antarctica”.
The charges are revealing about Russia’s commitments to its international law obligations in the Antarctic Treaty System. Russia seems to regard decisions on marine protected areas made through CCAMLR as illegitimate because foreign states will “restrict” Russia’s ambition. CCAMLR was set up in 1982 with the declared objective of “conserving Antarctic marine life”. But the view expressed in the indictment demonstrates that Russia will continue to block consensus in decision-making in the Antarctic Treaty System. This will not be confined to just CCAMLR. It will continue to manifest in other international agreements and forums.
Russia’s arrest of Pshenichnov on these grounds seems particularly vindictive and should be challenged by all other Antarctic countries.
The indictment’s revelation about Russia’s intentions to exploit hydrocarbon resources on the Antarctic continental shelf is extraordinary. The 1991 Protocol on Environmental Protection to the Antarctic Treaty contains an indefinite ban on mining in Antarctica. Although there are provisions for the Protocol to be reviewed, the overturning of the mining ban would be fraught with difficulty.
Russia has submitted to binding international legal obligations. The Protocol provides that “any activity relating to mineral resources, other than scientific research, shall be prohibited”. While Russia may dress up its well-known Antarctic seabed bathymetric surveys as “scientific research”, the indictment against Pshenichnov provides outside observers with a specific insight into its true intentions.
Russia’s arrest of Pshenichnov on these grounds seems particularly vindictive and should be challenged by all other Antarctic countries. Russia’s actions undermine the Antarctic Treaty System directly by demonstrating its continued resolve to oppose legitimate measures for protecting marine living resources in Antarctica and the Antarctic environment more generally.
Russia’s use of domestic criminal law to remove opposition to its Antarctic mining ambitions is telling. Russia’s ocean survey activities in Antarctic waters should be challenged and their activities subjected to inspection. Russia has obligations for reporting its activities under the Antarctic Treaty, and it also has obligations to share the results with other Antarctic Treaty parties. Antarctic Treaty parties should hold Russia to account using these provisions.
The Antarctic is a region of crucial importance for Australia – and to many other countries. Actions such as these by Russia need to be opposed and met with resolve, lest the Antarctic Treaty System be undermined.
