On the morning of 10 October, the forces of the Russian Federation carried out a massive missile attack against people’s homes and elements of the energy infrastructure of Ukraine. This resulted in civilian casualties and interrupted the operation of crucial support systems in major cities.
Feeling that they have complete impunity, Vladimir Putin and the Russian army have long been carrying out war crimes with the intention of destroying a neighbouring country. Russia’s cruelty and violence is no longer met with surprise or bewilderment. What causes surprise and bewilderment is the attitude of leading global powers, who are not yet ready to do everything possible to end these crimes and the daily loss of life. The Russian leadership is not made up of demons from hell; they are simply villains with the minds of street criminals, who hope that the West will weaken and step aside, leaving them to devour Ukraine. The longer that these monsters who are clinging onto power in Russia hold these illusions, the more people will die – including Russians.
We call upon all governments across the globe, and in the first instance those of China and India, to cast aside their doubts: the actions of this armed gang are threatening the security of the whole world. It is time to stop being merely a spectator on the sidelines and to come together to put pressure on the Russian authorities, including by introducing sanctions on specific sectors and specific individuals.
We call upon all governments across the globe to aid and grant sanctuary to all those Russian citizens – from soldiers being called up to generals – who are refusing to carry out criminal orders and will surrender and give evidence of the crimes of Putin’s regime.
We call upon all governments across the globe urgently to bring together a multi-national conference to form an International Military Tribunal that can punish the principal military criminals from among the ranks of the Russian political leadership and the Russian army.
We call upon the United States, the member countries of NATO and the European Union and their allies to provide Ukraine immediately with the most up-to-date air defence systems in order to protect the peaceful population and the civilian infrastructure, and to increase the pressure of sanctions on the Putin regime. These gangsters understand only the language of strength, and they can be defeated only on the field of battle.
Members of the Anti-War Committee of Russia:
- Sergey Aleksashenko, economist
- Evgeny Chichvarkin, entrepreneur
- Konstantin Chumakov, scientist
- Marat Gelman, gallerist
- Dmitry Gudkov, politician
- Garry Kasparov, politician, 13th world chess champion
- Mikhail Khodorkovsky, philanthropist, former political prisoner
- Evgeny Kiselev, journalist
- Mikhail Kokorich, entrepreneur
- Yulia Latynina, writer, journalist
- Elena Lukyanova, lawyer
- Yuri Pivovarov, historian, academician of the Russian Academy of Sciences
- Boris Zimin, entrepreneur