Returning the war to Russia: drones and discrimination in the defense of Ukraine

Abstract

This essay assesses the morality of Ukraine’s use of drones to attack targets inside Russia. Following its invasion by Russian forces, Ukraine has a just cause to wage a war of self-defense. However, its efforts to achieve that cause remain subject to moral limits. Even a state that has been unjustly attacked may not, for example, respond by deliberately targeting the attacking state’s civilian population. To do so would violate the jus in bello principle of discrimination. The essay first describes how drone technology has frequently enabled long-range strikes against Russian military assets as well as other targets inside cities. It then explains why it would be morally wrong for Ukraine to attack its enemy’s population centers. First, Russian civilians are not liable to attack, and this non-liability is undiminished by the injustice of Russia’s invasion or by any in bello wrongs committed by the Russian military. Second, attacking Russian cities with drones would arguably achieve little or no self-defensive benefit for Ukraine, and it could even be counterproductive.

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ORCID for Christian Enemark: orcid.org/0000-0002-1833-0927

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