LETTER TO THE RUSSIAN PEOPLE

To the Russian protesters who are bravely demonstrating against the war, who have been met with brutal force and arbitrary arrests by riot police.

To the thousands of Russian citizens who have written letters, had the courage to put their name on a letter to the President of Russia condemning this reckless decision to launch an all out war against Ukraine.

To all those Russians at home and abroad opposed to this senseless war. And you are in the millions.

We see you. And we hear you. We know that you’re strongly opposed to the Russian hostilities against the Ukrainian people. These hostilities are incurring huge human losses and undermines the foundations of the established system of international security. There is no rational justification for this war. We know that Ukraine has been and remains a country close to you, that many of you have relatives, friends, and colleagues living in Ukraine. Your fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers fought together against Nazism, and unleashing a war for the sake of the geopolitical ambitions of the leadership of the Russian Federation, driven by dubious historiosophical fantasies, is a cynical betrayal of their memory.

Now, Russia has doomed itself to international isolation. It has devolved into a pariah country. The isolation of Russia from the world means economic, financial, technological and cultural degradation of your country with a complete lack of positive prospects. The war with Ukraine is a step to nowhere.  

Your president, Vladimir Putin, has sorely miscalculated. He has ignored the democratic and law-abiding spirit of the Russian people. He has underestimated the brave Ukrainians defending their country from aggression, with whom you have no cause for war. No cause for hatred. No cause for violence. And he has severely misjudged the resolve of the world to stand against him.

Whatever lies are spoken today trying to justify the unjustifiable, or to explain the inexplicable, it is President Putin’s war of choice that is making your lives much more difficult.

But there is always time for de-escalation. There is always time for dialogue. And your President must choose this path. Should he not, this will show you just how much contempt he has for you, and for the future of your country and the planet that we live on, and share, together.