FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

An article by Yana Metlyova in Championat (translation by CPNN)

Appeal to the President of the Russian Federation from Russian chess players.

We oppose military actions on the territory of Ukraine and call for an early ceasefire and a peaceful solution to the conflict through dialogue and diplomatic negotiations. It is unbearably painful for us to see the catastrophe that is happening these days with our peoples.

Ian Nepomniachtchi

We have always played for Russia in individual and, with particular pride, in team competitions. We believe that chess, like sports in general, should bring people together. The most difficult and prestigious international tournaments were held in our country at the highest level even in the midst of the pandemic.

Chess teaches responsibility for one’s actions; every step counts, and a mistake can lead to a fatal point of no return. And if this has always been about sports, now people’s lives, basic rights and freedoms, human dignity, the present and future of our countries are at stake.

In these tragic days, we think of all the people who found themselves in the center of this terrible conflict. We share the pain with our Ukrainian colleagues and call for peace.

The Ukrainian chess team is the reigning European champion, one of the best teams in the world along with ours. We played dozens of matches and hundreds of games. We have always put the game above politics – and the Ukrainians have responded to us in return. We ask you to give teams, players and ordinary people from both countries a chance for mutual respect.

We are for peace. Stop the war!

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The petition is signed by:

Ian Nepomniachtchi, grandmaster, Honored Master of Sports of Russia, two-time Russian champion, European champion, vice-world champion, two-time world champion, European champion as part of the Russian team, winner of the FIDE Online Olympiad as part of the Russian team;

Alexandra Kosteniuk, grandmaster, Honored Master of Sports of Russia, 12th world champion, Russian champion, World Cup winner, three-time Olympic champion with the Russian team, two-time world champion and five-time European champion with the Russian team;

Daniil Dubov, grandmaster, world champion in rapid chess, European champion as a member of the Russian team and winner of two online Olympiads as a member of the Russian team;

Petr Svidler, grandmaster, Honored Master of Sports of Russia, eight-time champion of Russia, winner of the World Cup, five-time winner of the World Chess Olympiads as part of the Russian team, two-time winner of the World Team Championship as part of the Russian team, three-time winner of the European Team Championship as part of the Russian team;

Andrey Esipenko, grandmaster, winner of two online Olympiads as part of the Russian team;

Maxim Matlakov, grandmaster, European champion, European champion as part of the Russian team;

Kirill Alekseenko, grandmaster, participant of the Candidates Tournament, European champion in the Russian team;

Alexander Motylev, grandmaster, Russian champion, European champion, coach of the Russian men’s team;

Evgeny Naer, grandmaster, European champion, coach of the Russian women’s team;

Pavel Tregubov, grandmaster, European champion;

Anton Demchenko, grandmaster, European champion;

Mikhail Kobalia, grandmaster, senior coach of the Russian youth team;

Alexander Khalifman, grandmaster, FIDE world champion, two-time Olympic champion in the Russian team;

Valentina Gunina, Grandmaster, Honored Master of Sports of Russia, multiple champion of Russia and Europe in the individual competition, three-time Olympic champion with the Russian team, world champion, six-time European champion with the Russian team, winner of two online Olympiads with the Russian team;

Polina Shuvalova, International Master, World Junior Chess Champion, Russian Rapid Champion, World and European Champion as a member of the Russian team, winner of two online Olympiads as a member of the Russian team;

Alina Kashlinskaya, grandmaster, European champion, world champion and two-time European champion as part of the Russian team;

Igor Lysy, grandmaster, champion of Russia;

Dmitry Kryakvin, grandmaster, journalist;

Vladimir Barsky, international master, journalist;

Mark Glukhovsky, master candidate, organizer;

Maxim Notkin, international master, journalist;

Maxim Chigaev, grandmaster;

Anastasia Chigaeva, FIDE Master;

Olga Badelko, grandmaster;

Pavel Ponkratov, grandmaster;

Alexander Shimanov, grandmaster;

Igor Berdichevsky, grandmaster;

Ivan Rozum, grandmaster;

Ildar Khairullin, grandmaster;

Artur Gabrielyan, grandmaster;

Nikita Petrov, grandmaster;

Evgeny Gleizerov, grandmaster;

Artem Odegov, FIDE Master;

Konstantin Mesropov, International Master;

Svetlana Ershova, Women’s International Master;

Evgeny Egorov, international master;

Anna Volkova, organizer;

Eteri Kublashvili, FIDE Women’s Master;

Yana Sidorchuk, organizer;

Anna Burtasova, women’s grandmaster;

Denis Grigoriev, journalist;

Ilya Gorodetsky, candidate master, commentator;

Oleg Pervakov, grandmaster, multiple world champion in chess composition, journalist.

FREE FLOW OF INFORMATION

A press survey by CPNN

CPNN has published several articles recently about Russian opposition to the war, including open letters from scientists, from cultural figures, and from the “Congress of Intelligentsia.”

Opposition continues to grow despite draconian, even ridiculous, measures by the Russian government to stifle protest. Protesters risked arrest by massing in public in St. Petersburg, as shown the the photos below from Deutsche Welle.

As of February 26, the most comprehensive account of the antiwar movement and government crackdown comes from Moscow Times as follows

Russia’s Anti-War Lobby Goes Online

The head of Russia’s state-run RT television is in no doubt. If fellow citizens oppose President Vladimir Putin’s action in Ukraine then they are no longer Russians.

Margarita Simonyan, editor-in-chief of the English language international news network, is never one to mince her words and is used to making cutting remarks on Twitter in defense of Putin who she refers to simply as “leader.”

“If you are ashamed of being Russian now, don’t worry, you are not Russian,” was her summation of the anti-war movement at home.

Several thousand Russians demonstrated against the Russian invasion of Ukraine, but the police reaction was the usual one when it comes to Kremlin critics: hundreds of arrests.

So the anti-war movement has moved online, where it is beginning to make itself heard and to garner support, some of it high-profile.

Ukrainian flags adorn profile pictures and teary-eyed emojis are scattered liberally among the online statements. The hashtag #NoToTheWar was trending on Twitter on Saturday.

Since early Thursday, when the invasion of Ukraine began, various Russian celebrities, journalists and bloggers have expressed their horror and helplessness, pleading for an immediate end to the war.

The popular video blogger and documentary filmmaker Yuri Dud saw one of his online posts get a million “likes.”

“I write these words for a reason. When my children grow up and discover this moment in history… and ask me ‘Dad, what did you do?’, I want to have written proof that I did not choose this regime and did not support its imperialist rage,” he wrote.

‘This must be stopped!’

Elena Chernenko, a journalist with the Kommersant daily, said she was excluded from the pool of journalists covering Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov because she started an anti-war petition among her colleagues. 

An open letter from the arts and cultural fields on Saturday had the support of more than 2,000 actors, directors and other creative figures. 

They dismissed Putin’s argument that the invasion is a “peacekeeping” operation to save Russian speakers in eastern Ukraine.

“Forcing peace through the use of force is absurd,” the letter said.

Just as many doctors, nurses and paramedics have signed their own online missive.

“No matter how you seek to justify the use of lethal weapons, they are still lethal,” they wrote. 

And an anti-war petition on the change.org website has gathered more than 750,000 signatures in two days. 

Among the celebrities making their voices heard, including regulars on loyal public television, is popular singer Valery Meladze.

“This must be stopped!” was his message on Instagram on the first day of the invasion.

‘Shame added to suffering’

Dmitry Muratov, the 2021 Nobel Peace Prize laureate and editor-in-chief of the opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta, expressed his shame in an online video.

“We are suffering,” said Muratov. “Our country, on the orders of President Putin, has started a war against Ukraine. And nobody can stop it. Therefore, to our suffering is added shame.”

In a highly symbolic move, the founders of the “Immortal Regiment,” an organization dear to the Kremlin because it is responsible for preserving the memory of the dead of World War II, called on the Putin “to cease fire,” describing the use of force as “inhuman.”

Moscow’s Garage museum of contemporary art, founded by Kremlin-linked oligarch and Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich, announced it would close on Saturday, refusing to “maintain the illusion of normality.”

Also two communist MPs who voted for the recognition of the independence of pro-Russian separatists in eastern Ukraine, have denounced the invasion of Russia’s neighbor. 

“I voted for peace, not for war. I voted for Russia to be a shield [for the separatists]… not for Kyiv to be bombed,” wrote MP Mikhail Matveyev.

Addressing the celebrities and “thousands and thousands” of anonymous Russians denouncing the invasion, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky thanked them and asked them to stop those who “lie to the whole world.”

Putin has described Zelensky and his government as “terrorists” and “a gang of drug addicts and neo-Nazis,” urging the country’s military to topple him.

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In addition to the article from Moscow Times, here is information from other media sources:

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Appeal of Russian NGOs to end the war from Echo of Moscow

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Science diaspora against war from TRV Science
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Draconian and ridiculous government censorship from Al Jazeera

Russia’s communications regulator has ordered media outlets in the country to remove reports describing the continuing attack on Ukraine as an “assault, invasion, or declaration of war” – or face being blocked and fined.

In a statement on Saturday, Roskomnadzor accused several independent media outlets of spreading “unreliable socially significant untrue information” about the shelling of Ukrainian cities by the Russian army and civilian deaths.

Among those sent warning letters were Echo Moskvy, a popular radio station, and Novaya Gazeta, the country’s top independent newspaper whose editor-in-chief Dmitry Muratov was awarded a Nobel Peace Prize last year.

Citing a request from the Prosecutor-General’s Office, the regulator said media outlets, including independent television channel Dozhd, will be blocked unless they remove the “unreliable information”.
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More anti-war actions from Yahoo News

According to OVD-Info, rights group that tracks political arrests, at least 460 people in 34 cities were detained over anti-war protests on Saturday, including over 200 in Moscow.

Open letters condemning Russia’s invasion of Ukraine kept pouring, too. More than 6,000 medical workers put their names under one on Saturday; over 3,400 architects and engineers endorsed another while 500 teachers signed a third one. Similar letters by journalists, municipal council members, cultural figures and other professional groups have been making the rounds since Thursday.

An online petition to stop the attack on Ukraine, launched shortly after it started on Thursday morning, garnered over 780,000 signatures by Saturday evening, making it one of the most supported online petitions in Russia in recent years

Two lawmakers from the Communist Party, which usually toes the Kremlin’s line, spoke out against the hostilities on social media.

Oleg Smolin said he “was shocked” when the attack started and “was convinced that military force should be used in politics only as a last resort.” His fellow lawmaker Mikhail Matveyev said “the war must be immediately stopped” and that he voted for “Russia becoming a shield against the bombing of Donbas, not for the bombing of Kyiv.”

Russia’s state communications watchdog, Roskomnadzor, charged that reports about “Russian armed forces firing at Ukrainian cities and the death of civilians in Ukraine as a result of the actions of the Russian army, as well as materials in which the ongoing operation is called ‘an attack,’ ‘an invasion,’ or ‘a declaration of war’” were untrue and demanded that the outlets take them down or face steep fines and restrictions.

On Saturday, Russian internet users reported problems with accessing Facebook and Twitter, both of which have played a major role in amplifying dissent in Russia in recent years.

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Stop the War message on Telegram from UPI

On Friday, daughter of Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov, Elizaveta Peskova, posted a “stop the war” message on a Telegram verified account with more than 180,000 followers, which has since been taken down, according to CNN.

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Protests by Russian athletes from Perez Hilton

Russian tennis star Andrey Rublev performed a quiet protest on the court after his win on Friday, writing a simple message on the camera: “No war please” Later in a press conference the Moscow native expanded on his message, being incredibly selfless: “In these moments, you realize that my match is not important. It’s not about my match, how it affects me. What’s happening is much more terrible… You realize how important it is to have peace in the world and to respect each other no matter what, to be united. We should take care of our earth and of each other. This is the most important thing.”

Fellow Russian tennis star Daniil Medvedev also spoke out, saying:
“By being a tennis player, I want to promote peace all over the world. It’s just not easy to hear all this news. I’m all for peace.”

Alex Ovechkin, a Russian athlete from a different arena — literally, he’s a hockey star playing for the NHL‘s Washington Capitals — weighed in as well, saying: “Please, no more war. It doesn’t matter who is in the war — Russia, Ukraine, different countries — I think we live in a world, like, we have to live in peace and a great world.”

Meanwhile Russian chess grandmaster Yan Nepomniachtchi tweeted on Thursday: “History has seen many Black Thursdays. But today is blacker than the others. #нетвойне #saynotowar”

DISARMAMENT & SECURITY .

Information from Echo of Moscow (website later blocked by Russian government)

Over 17,000 signatures were listed on the following google document as of March 2.

We, artists, curators, architects, critics, art critics, art managers – representatives of art and culture of the Russian Federation – have initiated and sign this open letter, which we consider insufficient but necessary action on the way to peace between Russia and Ukraine.

On February 24, 2022, the Russian Federation launched a sudden, aggressive and open military offensive throughout Ukraine. The reason for him was declared “protection of residents of the DPR and LPR”, while military operations are carried out throughout Ukraine and in its major cities: Kiev, Lviv, Kharkiv, Odessa and others. Among the residents of these cities are a large number of our relatives, friends, acquaintances and colleagues. We demand to stop this war with Ukraine, which has lasted since 2014, – a sovereign and independent state – and start negotiating with it on a respectful and equal basis.

The war in Ukraine is a terrible tragedy for both Ukrainians and Russians. It entails huge human casualties, jeopardizes the economy and security, and will lead our country to complete international isolation. At the same time, it is absolutely meaningless – any coercion to peace through violence is absurd. The pretext under which the deployment of the “special operation” took place is entirely designed by representatives of the Russian authorities, and we oppose this war being waged on our behalf.

Now, first of all, we are concerned about the fate of Ukrainians, their lives and safety!

However, on behalf of the professional community, it is also important for us to say that the further escalation of the war will have irreparable consequences for artists and cultural workers. This will take away our last opportunities to fully work, speak out, create projects, popularize and develop culture, take away the future. Everything that has been done culturally over the past 30 years has now been jeopardized: all international ties will be broken, cultural private or public institutions will be preserved, partnerships with other countries will be suspended. All this will destroy the already fragile economy of Russian culture and significantly reduce its importance both for Russian society and for the international community as a whole. It will be almost impossible to study culture and art in such conditions.

We, artists, curators, architects, critics, art critics, art managers – representatives of art and culture of the Russian Federation – express our absolute solidarity with the residents of Ukraine and say decisively “NO WAR!” We demand an immediate stop of all hostilities, the withdrawal of troops from the territory of Ukraine and peace negotiations.

You can sign the open letter here. The full list of signatories will be updated.

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Here is the original letter in Russian:

Мы, художники, кураторы, архитекторы, критики, искусствоведы, арт-менеджеры — представители искусства и культуры Российской Федерации — инициировали и подписываем это открытое письмо, которое считаем недостаточным, но необходимым действием на пути к миру между Россией и Украиной.

24 февраля 2022 года Российская Федерация начала внезапное, агрессивное и открытое военное наступление по всей территории Украины. Поводом для него была объявлена «защита жителей ДНР и ЛНР», военные же действия ведутся на всей территории Украины и в ее крупных городах: Киеве, Львове, Харькове, Одессе и других. Среди жителей этих городов — большое количество наших родственников, друзей, знакомых и коллег. Мы требуем остановить эту длящуюся с 2014 года войну c Украиной — суверенным и независимым государством — и начать вести с ней переговоры на уважительных и равноправных основаниях.

Война в Украине — страшная трагедия как для украинцев, так и для россиян. Она влечет огромные человеческие жертвы, ставит под удар экономику и безопасность, приведет нашу страну к полной международной изоляции. В то же время она абсолютно бессмысленна — любое принуждение к миру с помощью насилия абсурдно. Предлог, под которым произошло развертывание «спецоперации», целиком и полностью сконструирован представителями российской власти, и мы выступаем против того, чтобы эта война велась от нашего имени.

Сейчас в первую очередь нас беспокоит судьба украинцев, их жизнь и безопасность!

Однако от лица профессионального сообщества нам также важно сказать, что дальнейшая эскалация войны обернется непоправимыми последствиями для работников искусства и культуры. Это заберет у нас последние возможности полноценно работать, высказываться, создавать проекты, популяризировать и развивать культуру, отнимет будущее. Все, что было сделано в культурном плане за последние 30 лет, сегодня оказалось поставлено под удар: все международные связи будут разорваны, культурные частные или государственные институции будут законсервированы, партнерские отношения с другими странами будут приостановлены. Все это разрушит и без того хрупкую экономику российской культуры и существенно снизит ее значимость и для российского общества, и для международного сообщества в целом. Заниматься культурой и искусством в таких условиях будет практически невозможно.

Мы, художники, кураторы, архитекторы, критики, искусствоведы, арт-менеджеры — представители искусства и культуры Российской Федерации — выражаем свою абсолютную солидарность с жителями Украины и говорим решительное «НЕТ ВОЙНЕ!». Мы требуем немедленной остановки всех военных действий, вывода войск с территории Украины и проведения мирных переговоров.

Подписать открытое письмо вы можете по ссылке. Полный список подписавших будет дополняться.