Faculty members, alumni, lecturers and students of the Russian Novosibirsk State University (NSU) have publicly voiced their opposition to Russia’s renewed invasion of Ukraine, “saying there is no reason for this war.”
Their statement on April 17 comes with a disclaimer saying that it isn’t officially affiliated with the “administration of the NSU” or with any recognized groups associated with the university such as, alumni groups.
“We, students, graduates, teachers and other employees of the Novosibirsk State University, strongly condemn the war that the Russian state unleashed on the territory of Ukraine on February 24, 2022, and express our support to the Ukrainian citizens,” the statement says.
It furthermore says that “there is no reason for this war…Thousands of Ukrainian and Russian military and civilians of Ukraine have already died in it, and every day of hostilities brings more victims.”
Kremlin despot Vladmir Putin ordered a renewed invasion of Ukraine on Feb. 24 as part of a war he and his occupying army has waged on the country since 2014 when the neighboring country’s Crimean Peninsula was forcibly seized. Parts of the easternmost regions of Luhansk and Donetsk year were also occupied in the same year.
“The war has already resulted in numerous crimes against civilians in Ukraine that must be investigated. Those responsible for these crimes must be found and punished. The Russian state must immediately stop the war, and the Russian army must leave Ukraine,” the NSU concluded.
The trilingual statement – written in Ukrainian, English and Russian – has 52 signatures as of April 17, of whom 38 are directly affiliated with the Russian state university.
