The military action, according to the Russian academic community, leads to the international isolation of Russia, something that will directly harm the country, because “scientific research cannot be imagined without full cooperation with colleagues from other countries, and Russia’s isolation from the world means further cultural and technological degradation of the country in the absence of positive prospects”.
More than 2,000 Russian academics, members of the Russian Academy of Sciences, scientists, journalists and intellectuals protested in an open letter against the military action launched by Russia against Ukraine. According to the signatories, the responsibility for starting a new war in Europe falls entirely on Russia, which has no rational justification for this war.
Attempts to use the situation in Donbas as an excuse for 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 it is unjust and frankly meaningless. Ukraine was and remains a country close to us. Many of us have relatives, friends and fellow scientists living in Ukraine. Our fathers, grandfathers and great-grandfathers fought together against Nazism. The launching of a war over the geopolitical ambitions of the leadership of the Russian Federation, prompted by dubious fantasies, is a cynical betrayal of their memory, the letter reads.
The military action, according to the Russian academic community, leads to the international isolation of Russia, something that will directly harm the country, because “scientific research cannot be imagined without full cooperation with colleagues from other countries, and Russia’s isolation from the world means further cultural and technological degradation of the country in the absence of positive prospects”.
But the hardest thing for this scientific community, as the letter reads, is that Russia, “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 end to all military operations against Ukraine. We demand respect for the sovereignty and territorial integrity of the Ukrainian state. We demand peace for our countries, the open letter ends.
