Most in the West see Russia’s war in Ukraine as immoral and unjust. Some lay the blame solely at Putin’s feet, seeing him as an authoritarian leader and the Russian soldiers as being forced to do his bidding. But, argues the University of Oxford’s Jeff McMahan, this picture is too simple. We must see Russian soldiers as morally responsible for their actions during the war in Ukraine. Fighting in an unjust war is a morally impermissible act, despite Putin’s tyranny. Sekyra and White’s Professor of Moral Philosophy at the University of Oxford, Jeff McMahan, is one of the most influential ethicists writing today. McMahan has conducted groundbreaking research on a host of controversial topics, including abortion, euthanasia, and killing in combat, and he recently contributed to a special issue of Studia Philosophica Estonica entitled ‘Reflections on the Russia-Ukraine War’. In this in…

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