On February 24th, 2022, Russia initiated a three-pronged invasion of Ukraine, striking military, infrastructural, and civilian targets across the country. Involving hundreds of thousands of soldiers and thousands of armored vehicles and aircraft, the Russian invasion of Ukraine constitutes the single largest military action in Europe since the Second World War. Dramatically escalating the hitherto dormant Russo-Ukrainian War, Russia’s brazen actions have placed Europe on the brink of a wider war. Since the conclusion of the Cold War, the paradigm for beginning and fighting conflicts has been transformed by an uneven application of the principles of Just War Theory, as for Kuwait in 1991, Yugoslavia in 1995, or Crimea in 2014. The Kremlin has violated the criteria of Just War Theory for its own political ends. In contrast, Ukraine, fighting for national survival, is an indisputably just participant.
While Ukraine has been forced to fight a war of necessity, Russia has attempted to fabricate a narrative of adherence to several principles of Jus ad Bello to justify its invasion of Ukraine. Before and during the conflict, the Kremlin has sought to demonstrate just cause for invasion. In an address to the Russian public, Russian dictator Vladimir Putin claimed that Russia “could not feel safe, develop and exist” with a modern, Western-oriented Ukraine on its border. Furthermore, the Kremlin officially stated that its intervention strives to “protect people subjected to bullying and genocide and aim for the ‘demilitarisation and de-Nazification’ of Ukraine.” The Russian claim of protecting Russian speakers from genocide presented itself in 2008 in Georgia and 2014 in both Crimea and Donbas. The claim also faintly echoes the justifying principles of NATO’s 1995 intervention in the Yugoslav Civil War, whereby the otherwise defensive coalition took offensive action, an example of an aggressive NATO that Putin uses to gain a basis to invade Ukraine. However, the veracity of the Kremlin’s claims is minimal. Ukraine has never posed an outward threat to the development of the Russian state, instead building its military and alliances as defensive measures in the face of Russian interference and encroachment in 2014. Putin’s misconstruction of facism is particularly ironic in light of his own authoritarian ruling style, in contrast with the democratic election of Volodymyr Zelenskyy in 2019. Similarly, no evidence of genocide — of Russian or other populations — can be found in Ukraine, which now has an almost categorical imperative to fight for survival. Russia has demonstrated a willingness to disregard human dignity in Ukraine altogether, and its open calls for stripping the nation of a means to defend itself and its people comprise a justification to fight. Still, the country has not attempted to launch offensive incursions of its own into Russian territory, only engaging in limited, targeted strikes on Russian military installations. Whether because of limited materiel or an explicit desire to remain a just participant, Ukraine’s conduct is thoroughly laudable. Despite the conflict’s emphasis on just cause and right intention, the question of last resort also arises as to whether the conflict could be averted and demands met. Russia has demanded that Ukraine cease all military action, enshrine neutrality in its constitution, recognize Crimea as Russian, and recognize Donetsk and Luhansk as independent states. Moscow believes that Ukrainian unwillingness to meet demands constituted a final basis for conflict, but Ukraine disputes that fact. For Kyiv, meeting such demands constitutes a violation of sovereignty and opens up Ukraine to further Russian interference and intimidation. And thus, Russia has cornered Ukraine.
The brazen and irresponsible actions of the Russian military in Ukraine run in direct opposition to the principles of Just War Theory, dramatically contrasting with Ukrainian conduct. In principle, targeting civilians is strictly prohibited, with collateral damage only acceptable when a proportional strike on military facilities leads to spillover damage. However, Russian conduct in Ukraine demonstrates no such distinction. When attacking Kyiv, Mariupol, and other major population centers, Russia has failed to discriminate between civilian and military targets, striking apartment blocks, schools, and stores in fits of wanton destruction of property, something that unto itself violates the laws of war. Worse, allegations have swirled that Russian strikes on civilian targets had the explicit intent of inciting fear amongst the Ukrainian populace and limiting resistance. Furthermore, while hospitals are supposed to receive special distinction, increasing numbers of healthcare personnel, infrastructure, and facilities have come under attack, including a maternity ward, killing three and wounding at least seventeen. Additionally, Russian troops have utterly violated the dignity of fleeing refugees: supposed humanitarian corridors have been mined, evacuating vehicles fired upon, and families shelled by mortar and artillery fire. Moreover, Russian uses of thermobaric weaponry have also come under close scrutiny, as such weapons can instantly vaporize individuals sheltering in buildings or bunkers. Throughout the conflict, Russian forces have conducted a campaign of torture, rape, and death, demonstrating a complete disregard for human dignity.
Thus far, Ukrainian military operations have been confined to its territory and have only taken action against the invading Russian military. Indeed, much of the burden of proof for a just war is placed on the aggressor, meaning that Ukraine has to justify relatively little when its national survival is at stake. Nonetheless, Kyiv has demonstrated exceptional respect for the rules of war. Perhaps the only questionable conduct has been the sporadic stopping, searching, and arrest of purported saboteurs operating within Ukrainian cities. However, such operations have taken place within the reasonable bounds of military necessity. In Russia, the government has strangled free speech and expression– Ukrainian arrests of purported saboteurs have taken place on legal grounds of violating curfews with demonstrably malicious intent.
Moscow’s discussion of what a post-war Ukraine would look like post-war does not appear to align with the principle of discrimination. Russia has vowed to “denazify” Ukraine, yet such “denazification” would likely involve killing its Jewish head of state, whose family fought against the Nazis in the Second World War, and replacing a democratic government with an autocratic, autarkic puppet– one that would undoubtedly subject Ukranians to opression.
Countries have increasingly used tenets of Just War Theory to justify interventions in other nations since the end of the Cold War, consequently stretching the framework to its very limits. The Russo-Ukrainian War is an exceptional example of the blatant appropriation of Just War Theory to obtain political ends. Although Russia has attempted to gain legitimacy for its intervention in Ukraine on the basis of protecting Russian minorities and eliminating a perceived existential threat, its actions in the conflict and its envisioned post-war scenario are altogether unattainable and unjust. In contrast, Ukraine entered into the war to defend its people, their rights, and the nation’s very sovereignty and existence. Its conduct has been in line with the rules of war, and its rejection of Russian demands is not an unjust act but rather an important one of defiance. In resisting a Russian war of choice, of aggression, Ukraine continues to fight for its people, their dignity, and justice.
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