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The Bucha massacre raises the question of whether the Russian army predisposes its soldiers to unlawful violence against civilians. This article assumes that regardless of superior orders, perpetrators of violence must overcome the psychological barriers developed during socialisation. The psychological mechanism of "moral disengagement" allows soldiers to kill in combat and act violently on civilians. The duty of the armed forces is not only to prepare soldiers to fight and kill but also to prevent illegal violence. The case of the Russian army demonstrates how formal activities to prevent moral disengagement and violations of the International Humanitarian Law (IHL) face insurmountable obstacles in the form of institutional culture and insufficient human capital.

In July 2011 Germany abandoned conscription. This step is the most significant part of the ongoing reform of the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr) and by no stretch also the greatest change in the entire history of the Bundeswehr. The current reform, however, is only the last one in the long line of attempts to adapt the Bundeswehr to post-Cold-War circumstances and missions. The German Armed Forces have been undergoing an almost uninterrupted process of transformation since the end of the Cold War. In the course of the last two decades the anticipated end-state of the reform has been changing accordingly with respect to the changing perception of strategic assumptions. The strategic reasoning behind the distinct reform attempts is to be analysed in this article.