Statements

5 March 2022

Source: Moscow State University group against the war

We, students, graduate students, faculty, staff, and alumni of Russia’s oldest university, the Lomonosov Moscow State University, categorically condemn the war that our country has unleashed in Ukraine.

Russia and our parents gave us a good education, the true value of which consists in being able to critically evaluate what is happening around us, to weigh arguments, to hear each other, and to be committed to truth – in science and the humanities. We know how to call things by their proper names and we cannot stand to one side.

Actions taken in the name of the Russian Federation that its leaders call a “special military operation” are war and in this situation there is no room for euphemisms or for justifications. War is violence, brutality, death, loss of loved ones, powerlessness and fear, which cannot be justified by any goal. War is the most brutal act of dehumanisation, which, as we have learned within the walls of schools and University, must never be repeated. The absolute values of human life, humanism, diplomacy and the peaceful resolution of conflicting views that we absorbed at the University were trampled on and thrown away in an instant when Russia treacherously invaded Ukraine. The lives of millions of Ukrainians have been put at risk every hour since Russian military forces invaded Ukraine.

We express our support for the people of Ukraine and categorically condemn the war that Russia has unleashed against Ukrainians.

As alumni of Russia’s oldest university, we know that the losses inflicted in six days of bloody war that are above all human, but also social, economic and cultural, are irreparable. We also know that war is a humanitarian disaster, but we cannot imagine the depth of the wound that we as a people, the people of Russia, are inflicting on the people of Ukraine and on ourselves right now.

We demand that Russia’s leaders immediately put into effect a ceasefire, leave the territory of the sovereign state of Ukraine and end this shameful war.

We ask all citizens of Russia who care about the future of our country to join the movement for peace.

We are against war!

#notowar #нетвойне

The appeal was signed (as of 00:10 5 March 2022) by over 7,500 alumni, staff and students of Moscow State University. The names of signatories have not been made public at present but are with the authors of the appeal.