The letter of 370 Russian scientists and academics rejecting the invasion of Ukraine

@ElentirENG ES 2·25·2022 · 6:41 0

The criminal attack launched by Vladimir Putin against Ukraine is not only being rejected abroad, but also in Russia.

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This Thursday there were demonstrations against the invasion in 53 cities in Russia, protests in favor of peace that the Putin regime has tried to quell with the arrest of 1,700 protesters by the Russian Police.

The invasion of Ukraine has also caused a strong rejection in the Russian academic and scientific field. Yesterday, the Russian channel TRV-Science published a letter that has already been signed by more than 370 academics and scientists rejecting the military aggression ordered by Putin against the Ukrainian people. It is a gesture of great courage on the part of these personalities, especially considering the authoritarian way in which the Putin regime has been suppressing dissent within Russia. You can read the English translation of the letter here:

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An open letter from Russian scientists and science journalists against the war with Ukraine

We, Russian scientists and scientific journalists, declare a strong protest against the hostilities launched by the armed forces of our country on the territory of Ukraine. This fatal step leads to huge human losses and undermines the foundations of the established system of international security. The responsibility for unleashing a new war in Europe lies entirely with Russia.

There is no rational justification for this war. Attempts to use the situation in Donbass as a pretext for launching a military operation do not inspire any confidence. It is clear that Ukraine does not pose a threat to the security of our country. The war against her is unfair and frankly senseless.

Ukraine has been and remains a country close to us. Many of us have relatives, friends and scientific colleagues living in Ukraine. Our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers fought together against Nazism. Unleashing a war for the sake of the geopolitical ambitions of the leadership of the Russian Federation, driven by dubious historiosophical fantasies, is a cynical betrayal of their memory.

We respect Ukrainian statehood, which rests on really working democratic institutions. We treat the European choice of our neighbors with understanding. We are convinced that all problems in relations between our countries can be resolved peacefully.

Having unleashed the war, Russia doomed itself to international isolation, to the position of a pariah country. This means that we, scientists, will no longer be able to do our job normally: after all, conducting scientific research is unthinkable without full cooperation with colleagues from other countries. The isolation of Russia from the world means further cultural and technological degradation of our country in the complete absence of positive prospects. War with Ukraine is a step to nowhere.

It is bitter for us to realize that our country, which made a decisive contribution to the victory over Nazism, has now become the instigator of a new war on the European continent. We demand an immediate halt to all military operations directed against Ukraine. We demand respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Ukrainian state. We demand peace for our countries.

[The first of the more than 370 signatories of this letter are indicated below. The full list can be read here]

• Alexander Anikin, linguist, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• Yuri Apresyan, linguist, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• Bondar Alexander, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• Viktor Vasiliev, mathematician, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• Mikhail Danilov, physicist, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• Yury Kostitsyn, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Doctor of Geol.-Min.Sci.
• Alexander Moldovan, philologist, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• Sergei Nikolaev, philologist, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• Valery Rubakov, physicist, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• Roald Sagdeev, physicist, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• Alexander Sobolev, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Geochemistry and Analytical Chemistry. IN AND. Vernadsky, RAS
• Sergey Stishov, physicist, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• Svetlana Tolstaya, philologist, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• Efim Khazanov, physicist, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• Alexander Chaplik, Academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• Mikhail Gelfand, bioinformatician, member of the European Academy, Ph.D. biol. Sciences
• Alexander Kabanov, chemist, member of the European Academy
• Sergey Zenkin, Doctor of Philology, Member of the European Academy
• Leonid Aranovich, Dr. geol.-min. Sciences, Corresponding Member of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• Petr Arseev, physicist, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• Elena Berezovich, philologist, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences
• Elizaveta Bonch-Osmolovskaya, biologist, corresponding member of the Russian Academy of Sciences

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Photo: Anton Vaganov/Reuters. Images of the demonstration in Saint Petersburg, Russia, convened this Thursday, February 24, in the afternoon against the invasion of Ukraine.