International Legal Mechanisms of Humanitarian Cooperation with Unrecognized States: Current Practice (COVID-19 Case Study)

The COVID-19 pandemic has brought to the forefront issues of international humanitarian cooperation with unrecognized states, demonstrating the need to overcome political barriers in the field of healthcare and hu-manitarian aid. The article examines the international legal foundations and practical mechanisms for provid-ing humanitarian aid to populations of unrecognized states, analyzes the activities of international organiza-tions during the pandemic, and considers legal problems and ways to resolve them. The research novelty con-sists in examining how humanitarian cooperation influences the international status of unrecognized states under conditions of a massive humanitarian challenge posed by the global COVID-19 pandemic. It is estab-lished that universal principles of human rights protection, peremptory norms of international humanitarian law, and erga omnes obligations form a legal basis for providing humanitarian support to populations of territories regardless of their legal status. At the same time, it is substantiated that unrecognized states have a special international legal personality in the field of humanitarian cooperation. It is precisely the territorial administra-tions of unrecognized states that possess real administrative and organizational powers in the relevant sphere.