In February 2022, as Russian forces encircled Mariupol and began systematically severing its electricity, water, and food supplies, many observers described what was unfolding as unprecedented. It was not. Those who had observed Syria over the preceding decade recognised the playbook immediately: the encirclement, the targeting of hospitals and distribution points, the humanitarian corridors that were not safe to use, and the blocking of relief organisations. These were not scattered responses amidst the chaos of war, but a method, field-tested and refined, applied yet again in a new theatre.
In this two-part article, Rebecca Bakos Blumenthal, Starvation and Humanitarian Crisis Lead at Global Rights Compliance, and Elise Lauriot Prevost, Legal Advisor at Global Rights Compliance, explore how Russia’s siege of Mariupol was not an isolated military campaign, but the continuation of a doctrine refined during the conflict in Syria.
Throughout the article, the authors show that modern sieges follow a recognisable pattern: cities and populated areas are encircled, humanitarian access is obstructed, critical civilian infrastructure is systematically destroyed and dismantled, and starvation is used as a weapon against civilians.
The article examines how years of impunity for atrocities committed in Syria created the conditions for the same tactics to be applied elsewhere — from Ukraine to Gaza, where the use of food as a weapon has been extensively documented, including as a constituent element of genocide — and echoed in other contemporary sieges. The authors explore why this accountability gap persists and how ongoing international proceedings could help establish important legal precedents for prosecuting starvation as a method of warfare.
Read the full op-ed here:
Part 1: http://opiniojuris.org/2026/07/29/starved-into-submission-siege-doctrine-from-syria-to-mariupol-part-1/
Part 2: http://opiniojuris.org/2026/07/29/starved-into-submission-siege-doctrine-from-syria-to-mariupol-part-2/