War in Europe – Russia’s assault on Ukraine - An appeal to everyone who speaks Russian

Sir, – As writers, we are appealing to everyone who speaks the Russian language. To people of all nationalities. To those who are native speakers. To those for whom Russian is their second or third language.

Today the Russian language is being used by the Russian state to ignite hatred and justify the shameful war against Ukraine. In Russian, the official media keep repeating endless lies that are creating a smoke screen around this aggression.

Russian people have been fed lies for many years. The independent sources of information have been almost entirely destroyed. The opposition leaders – silenced. The state propaganda machine is working with all its might.

In this situation it is critical to reveal to the Russian citizens the full truth about the Russian aggression against Ukraine. About the suffering and losses of the Ukrainian nation. About civilians being targeted and killed. About the danger to the whole European continent. And possibly to the whole of humanity, given the fact of nuclear threat.

Please, use all possible means of communication. Phones. Messengers. Emails. Reach the people you know. Reach the people you don’t know. Tell the truth. If Vladimir Putin is blind and deaf, maybe the Russians will listen to those who speak the same language.

This wrongful war should be stopped. – Yours, etc,

VLADIMIR SOROKIN,

SVETLANA ALEXIEVICH,

LYUDMILA ULITSKAYA,

DMITRY GLUKHOVSKY,

VICTOR SHENDEROVICH,

MARIA STEPANOVA,

SERGEI LEBEDEV,

LIZA ALEXANDROVA-ZORINA,

SASCHA FILIPENKO,

ALISA GANIEVA,

VIKTAR MARTINOVICH,

MAXIM OSIPOV,

ALEXANDER GENIS,

LEV RUBINSTEIN,

ALEXANDER ILICHEVSKY,

MIKHAIL SHISHKIN,

BORIS AKUNIN,

and in support

HERTA MÜLLER, (Germany/Romania);

ELFRIEDE JELINEK, (Austria);

OLGA TOKARCZUK, (Poland);

JM COETZEE, (South Africa/Australia);

MATHIAS ENARD, (France);

NURUDDIN FARAH, (Somalia/South Africa);

PANKAJ MISHRA, (India/England);

JUAN GABRIEL VAZQUEZ, (Colombia).

[The above letter appeared in Irish Times, March 5, 2022 and is reproduced here in public interest for non-commercial use]