The ethics of war and moral injury. An analysis of personal moral experience of the Afghan and Chechen veterans

The article is devoted to the analysis of personal moral experience of modern local conflicts' veterans. On the basis of foreign studies, the genesis of the term “moral injury” and its difference from post-traumatic stress disorder at the moment of reflection on personal moral experience of war consequences is shown. The results and the analysis of semi-structured interviews with veterans of the Afghan and Chechen wars are presented. The materials obtained have allowed to reveal ways of forming personal moral experience of veterans. Combatants who have experienced murder or observed tragic scenes tend to distance themselves from the past, or give it a special, sacred status. It has been shown that regardless of the specific task carried out on the battlefield, every soldier or officer is faced with the need to reflect on traumatic experiences, and thereby can self-inflict “moral injury”.