It has been a week since Russia invaded and it has been a surprise. The Russian assault included attacks on multiple fronts aimed atUkraine's major cities, including its capital, Kyiv. The question of whether the fall of Ukraine is inevitable is a real one, given that it is up against the most powerful army in Europe, and that it is fighting that army alone. Military strategists know that battles are not solely decided by the size of the army. The will to fight is a critical human factor. Do the soldiers have a clear idea of the purpose of the war? Do they believe in their commanders? In their government? Do they think the public opinion is in their favor? Do they have a moral justification for the use of violence when it is against civilians? There is no question that Ukrainians have the will to fight. The Ukrainian military has performed well, with many Ukrainians returning from abroad to defend the country. Ukrainians confront Russian soldiers. They asked why they came. As a Russian convoy tried to advance, they got in their way, chanting fascists and occupants. Russian soldiers fired their guns into the air. It seems to be different on the Russian side. The confusion and ambivalence among Russian soldiers, especially in their encounters with Ukrainian civilians, has been noteworthy about this war so far. The Russian army is a key factor in understanding how Ukraine is still standing. Do they know what they are fighting for? How long will they follow orders?Politico
When I was a graduate student in European and Russian history, the central question we wrestled with was: How can ordinary people commit great violence? This question can be found in most books about Europe's 20th century. Christopher Browning's Ordinary Men: Reserve Police Battalion 101 and the Final Solution in Poland was perhaps the most powerful book to address this question. Browning showed that mass violence against civilians was not done by antisemites and that the executions of Jewish men, women and children in a forest, one by one, with a bullet to the head, was carried out not by antisemites.
I tried to understand the broader historical context of these events, but mostly I tried to understand what made it possible for a human being to commit such atrocities. Browning's book offered an explanation for how ordinary people can take part in evil.
Killing is hard according to Browning's story. It's hard for most people, but a small percentage of them are outside the norm. Killing is hard in the military.
The argument was based on the famous Milgram experiments conducted by the psychologist in the early 1960s. What conditions would people follow orders even if they ran counter to their moral sense?
The experiment was a study of whether pain improved memory. Rather than testing memory, the experiment was testing how much pain one human being was willing to endure.
The results were shocking. It seemed that almost two thirds of the subjects were willing to obey orders and cause pain to an innocent human being.
The results did not tell the whole story. The behavior of one human being toward another was decided by other factors. When the teachers heard the learner's pain in response to the electric shock they had administered, they expressed unease and refused to continue the experiment. To convince them to continue, the scientist would have to assure them that the pain they were causing was good for them.
For the subjects to remain willing participants in a process they found morally repugnant, their actions needed to be cast as morally necessary.
The Jewish victims of Browning had been dehumanized by the Nazis and were cast as a threat to the survival of the German nation. Most of the German soldiers struggled to overcome their revulsion. Killing was difficult. They found it hard to kill Jewish civilians who spoke German. For those who initially refused, the argument that eventually convinced them to take part in mass murder was that their non-participation would place a heavier burden on their colleagues. Orders were not enough to get soldiers to kill civilians.
Russian officials and media say there is a moral cause for Russia's invasion of Ukraine and that it is necessary for the survival of Russians and the Russian world. They warn that the Ukrainian government is made up of drug addicts and neo-Nazis. The goal of the war is to make the president of Ukraine a Jew. The International Anti-Fascist Congress will be held in the summer of 2022, according to Defense Minister Sergei Shoigu.
The coverage of the war by Russia is like getting lost in a hall of mirrors. Reality is broken into parts and reassembled into something grotesque. Russian propaganda took concepts from the Soviet war against Nazi Germany and turned them on their head. Nazis are being accused of being on the other side by the aggressor.
This fantasy holds at least part of the Russian public captive, especially those who rely on state media for their information. What about Russian soldiers? What happens when they see reality on the ground?
A friend in Kyiv posted a photo of a billboard message addressed to Russian soldiers and imploring them to stop, asking how they will be able to look their children in the eyes. By the end of the day, the city was filled with billboards that said "Do not ruin your life for Putin." Putin has lost, so go home with a clear conscience. The world is with Ukraine. Instead of flowers, bullets await you. Leave! Do not become a murderer. Leave! Stay a human being.
The most powerful thing about these messages is that they are written in a civilian voice. They want the Russian soldier to be a human with a conscience, not a military combatant or moral monster. This appeal is more than a basic shared humanity; it is an appeal that relies on the intimate familiarity that Russians and Ukrainians have with one another.
The cultural proximity seems to be having an effect on Russian military morale. Russian soldiers have been told that they are going to liberate Russian-speaking Ukrainians from the Nazis. When their tank runs out of gas, they meet a Ukrainian driver who asks them if they are Russian. They understand jokes and speak the same language.
Russia seems to have expected its special military operation to lead to the surrender of Ukraine. Perhaps Russia expected the world to stand by as it took control of Ukrainian territory, just as it did when it took control of the peninsula of Crimea. Maybe it expected to stage its own famous moment, raising the Russian flag over a defeated Kyiv just as the Soviets did over Berlin in the last days of the war against Nazi Germany. Russia's official explanation for the invasion of Ukraine would have been confirmed by this visual echo.
The Russian army would be welcomed as liberators in Ukrainian towns and villages if this were true. Nobody is showering their tanks with flowers. The conflict doesn't look like genocide to the Russian soldiers.
In the age of social media, the moment when Ukrainian sailors were captured is quickly becoming an icon. They've seen a wide swath of Ukrainian civilians who questioned why Russian soldiers were invading their country and were told to go home.
As the war in Ukraine unfolds, it becomes clear that the ideological ground Russia has laid for it is fragile. Russian soldiers have not been prepared for this conflict. Videos of captured Russian soldiers show young men who seem confused. They say their commanders didn't tell them they were going to war. They thought they were going to do training.
Evidence is growing that the Russian population is low. The abandoned Russian military vehicles were found by the Ukrainian army. This does not mean that the Russian army will not cause more damage in Ukraine. The question of how far Russian soldiers are willing to obey orders is being raised more and more. Without a stronger sense of moral justification, Putin may soon find that the Russian army lacks the will to win a war against Ukrainians.
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