Despite the threat of penalties
Almost 7,000 scientists criticize Putin’s war
03/03/2022, 10:10 p.m
They might go to jail for it, but they still make their criticism of the government public: several thousand Russian scientists speak out in an open letter once morest the Ukraine war. In it they describe their country as a “military aggressor” and a “rogue state”.
In Russia, almost 7,000 scientists and academics have opposed the war in Ukraine and signed an open letter to President Vladimir Putin. “We, Russian scientists and science journalists, protest in the strongest possible terms once morest the military invasion of Ukraine by Russian forces,” read the letter, published on the news website trv-science.ru.
“Humanistic values are the foundation on which science is built,” write the signatories. They spent many years strengthening Russia’s reputation as a leading center of mathematics, among other things. The efforts were “completely nullified,” it said.
The letter also referred to Russia as a “military aggressor and, accordingly, a rogue state.” Becoming a great scientific nation “cannot be achieved under the present conditions”. No geopolitical interest might “justify this death and bloodshed.” A war will only “lead to the total decline of our country”.
The global response to Moscow’s invasion a week ago is already disrupting a number of scientific initiatives, including the International Space Station and a planned Russian-European mission to land a rover on Mars. The International Congress of Mathematicians that Russia was supposed to host in July was also canceled because of the invasion.
The more than 6,900 signatories face fines or imprisonment for criticizing the government. In addition to the already harsh laws once morest Kremlin critics, the Russian parliament is debating another bill this week that provides for even harsher penalties for criticizing the war in Ukraine.
