The Russian Anti-War Committee calls for an independent international investigation into the crimes of the Russian army and the recognition of the summary executions and murders of civilians on Ukrainian territory occupied by Russian troops as genocide.
The withdrawal of the Russian army from Kiev has revealed to the world a horrifying picture: hundreds of civilians whose bodies were simply dumped on the streets of Ukrainian cities; people with their hands tied, shot at point-blank range; women, children and entire families who clearly could not have been mistaken for armed opponents, murdered in cold blood.
This is the face of Putin’s war. A war that cannot now be called anything other than the genocide of the Ukrainian people. In one day, the name of the small town of Bucha in the Kiev region has become as well-known as Srebrenica in Bosnia. Evidence of brutal massacres, shootings of the residents of Bucha, and looting and violence by Russian troops has been published by media around the world. Thisevidence is indisputable and cannot be ignored.
From the very beginning, Putin’s aggression against Ukraine has been a war crime. Every day and hour of this unjustifiable invasion has taken the lives of Ukrainian citizens. But the evidence now emerging from Bucha, Motyzhyn, Mariupol and other cities, towns and villages undeniably proves the deliberate destruction by Russian troops of the peaceful civilian population of the regions of Ukraine that they seized.
According to the UN definition, what has been happening on the territory of Ukraine since February 24, 2022, , is the genocide of the Ukrainian people. This is a crime of Putin’s regime not just against Ukraine, but against humanity. This crime is not subject to any statute of limitations and must be properly investigated and punished. All those who took part in the genocide of the Ukrainian people – from the rank-and-file to the commander-in-chief – must be identified and brought to justice by an international court.
Until such a trial becomes possible, we call on the entire global community, and especially the countries of the European Union, to use every opportunity to stop the war and the genocide of the Ukrainian people. We understand that the governments of democratic countries are not prepared to risk the lives of their soldiers. But in a situation of continuing genocide, you are obliged to sacrifice your economy. No human life is worth money or economic statistics.
We call for an immediate cessation of all trade relations with the aggressor and an embargo on the purchase of Russian oil and gas, notwithstanding the economic losses resulting from such a decision; the arming of Ukraine with the most modern weapons, ammunition and fuel; and the opening of a fully-fledged lend-lease system.
Every day of delay in adopting these decisions is costing hundreds of human lives.
Members of the Russian Anti-War Committee:
- Sergei Aleksashenko, economist
- Marat Gelman, gallerist
- Dmitry Gudkov, politician
- Sergey Guriev, economist
- Boris Zimin, businessman
- Vladimir Kara-Murza, politician, historian
- Garry Kasparov, politician, 13th world chess champion
- Yevgeny Kiselyov, journalist
- Yulia Latynina, writer, journalist
- Elena Lukyanova, lawyer
- Yury Pivovarov, historian, member of the Russian Academy of Sciences
- Lyubov Sobol, politician
- Mikhail Khodorkovsky, philanthropist, former political prisoner
- Evgeny Chichvarkin, entrepreneur
- Konstantin Chumakov, scientist
- Viktor Shenderovich, writer