Amid ongoing fears in the West that Moscow could be planning an invasion of Ukraine, a group of prominent Russian liberals and anti-Kremlin activists has published a petition warning the government to step back from the brink, and criticizing authorities for their role in the worsening standoff.
More than 100 people, mostly writers, activists, and scholars, signed the petition, titled “Declaration by the supporters of peace against the Party of War in the Russian government” and published on news site Echo of Moscow on Sunday.
The authors cite reports of a possible Russian invasion of Ukraine, deliveries of Russian military equipment into the war-torn Donbass region, and NATO armament in eastern Europe. “The citizens of Russia are de facto becoming prisoners of criminal adventurism, the direction Russian foreign policy is taking,” they write.
The signatories include Lev Ponomaryov, an activist and founder of the organization ‘For Human Rights.’ Ponomaryov has been labeled a ‘foreign agent’ by Moscow’s Ministry of Justice over links to funding from abroad. Also on the list are Boris Vishnevksy, a leader in the liberal opposition party Yabloko; and Lev Gudkov, academic supervisor of the polling organization Levada Center, also recognized as a ‘foreign agent.’