M., a Ukrainian national from the Zaporizhia Oblast, had applied for international protection in France. His application was rejected by OFPRA in September 2021. M. appealed this decision, claiming that if returned to Ukraine, he would face persecution or serious harm from members of a para-military group, due to him being of Armenian origin.

The National Court of Asylum concluded that the applicant’s declarations did not allow to establish the facts that motivated him to leave Ukraine, nor that he would be targeted in case of his return. However, the court also noted that M.’s application for international protection should also be examined in light of the current situation in the Zaporizhia Oblast.

The court further specified that that the security situation in Ukraine can currently be characterised by a significant level of violence, which differs in degree from region to region in terms of intensity and impact on the civilian population. For this reason, the court stated that the mere invocation of Ukrainian nationality is not sufficient, by itself, to establish the merits of an application for international protection.

The court, citing data published by various organisations (UNHCR, IOM, OCHA, ACLED, Human Rights Watch) also stated that almost 91% of all registered security incidents took place in the Southern and Eastern macro-regions of Ukraine, where the Zaporizhia Oblast is located, and that 11% of all internally displaced persons originated from this region. The court also noted that many security incidents had been registered in Zaporizhia alone, and that it ranked 3rd among the most impacted regions in this regard, and 5th in terms of number of fatal victims.

The court concluded that the security situation in the Zaporizhia Oblast could be considered as one of indiscriminate violence of exceptional intensity, thus M.’s mere presence there would put him at real risk of serious harm. The court granted him subsidiary protection.