Russian societies around the UK call on students to speak out against war in Ukraine

Today, the 24th of February, marks one year since Russia’s full-scale war against Ukraine.

The University of Edinburgh’s Russian-Speaking  Society has published an open letter to Russian-speaking students in the UK, asking their fellow Russian speakers to protest against the Russian invasion of Ukraine: “we urge Russian-speaking students to come together to demonstrate that the younger generation stands united against the war.”

The open letter addresses Russian students directly:

“We are certain that, like us, you oppose the repressive course of international and domestic policy in our country. Unlike our peers in Russia, we have an opportunity to publicly denounce the actions of Russian leadership and show our solidarity with Ukraine”.

“We cannot allow ourselves to remain silent when Putin claims that this war is being waged on our behalf and with our support”.

It outlines a full list of anti-war protests marking the first anniversary of the invasion, inviting readers to take part to show unanimity with Ukraine and protest against Putin’s claims that the war is being waged on their behalf. The list contains protests across the UK, including London, Edinburgh and Sheffield.

The open letter then lists societies which have endorsed what is written in it, including King’s College London Russian-Speaking Society, the University of York Russian-Speaking Society and the University of Surrey Russian-Speaking Society, among a few others. For the most up-to-date endorsements, see Students Against The War.

To support those impacted by the War in Ukraine and the message of this open letter, Edinburgh students can attend the Russian Citizens’ March of Solidary with Ukrainian People on the 25th of February 2023.

You can read the open letter in full here.

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The Edinburgh Tab has spoken to Ukrainian students on the anniversary of the war. You can read what they said about the impacts of the war here.

Cover photo via SWNS.