“Stop the War”, over 300 Russian NGO representatives write in a call to Putin

See the dynamic and the update of the online list of signatories here.

See here another petition being signed by thousands of scientists and scientific journalists in Russia

Novaya Gazeta*/ HRWF (25.02.2022) – Russian NGOs appealed to Russian President Vladimir Putin to stop hostilities on the territory of Ukraine. “We oppose the military actions that our country carries out on the territory of Ukraine. All our work is the struggle for human dignity, saving lives. War is incompatible with life, dignity, or basic principles of humanity.

War is a humanitarian catastrophe that multiplies pain and suffering.

Its consequences nullify our many years of efforts. We consider inhumane forceful methods of resolving political conflicts and call on you to cease fire and start negotiations,” the appeal of Russian NGOs on the end of the war reads (the text is available to the editorial office).

As of Day III of the war (25 February), in the morning, the call had already been signed by over 300 representatives of NGOs.

Russian journalists published an open letter condemning the “special military operation” against Ukraine, announced on the morning of February 24 by Russian President Vladimir Putin.

“No to the war,” hundreds of scientists and scientific journalists sign in Russia

” We, Russian scientists and scientific journalists, declare a strong protest against the military actions initiated by the armed forces of our country on the territory of Ukraine. This fatal step leads to huge loss of life and undermines the foundations of the existing system of international security. The responsibility for unleashing a new war in Europe lies entirely with Russia.

There are no reasonable excuses for this war. Attempts to use the situation in Donbass as a reason for the deployment of a military operation are not credible. It is obvious that Ukraine does not pose a threat to the security of our country. The war against her is unfair and frankly meaningless.

Ukraine has been and remains a country close to us. Many of us have relatives, friends and colleagues in scientific work in Ukraine. Our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers fought together against Nazism. The outbreak of 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 relies on really working democratic institutions. We understand the European choice of our neighbors. We are convinced that all problems in relations between our countries can be solved peacefully..” (…)

Text of the Open Letter (in Russian and in English with the automatic translation).

Among the first signatories are journalists of Kommersant, Rain*, Novaya Gazeta, RBC, Echo of Moscow, The Bell, RTVI, Snob, 7×7, Izvestiazona* and others.

(*) Novaya Gazeta’s editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov

Photo credits: Anton Vaganov / Reuters