Nobel Prize winners, writers and artists from around the world have mobilized in an open letter published this Sunday, February 27 to express their support for Ukraine and denounce the violence of the conflict.
More than 1,000 writers including the Briton Salman Rushdie (The Midnight Children)Canadian Margaret Atwood (The Scarlet Maid) and Nobel Prize winners in literature from Turkey Orhan Pamuk and Belarusian Svetlana Alexievitch expressed their solidarity with Ukraine and called for an end to Russia’s invasion of the country.
call for peace
In an open letter published Sunday evening by the world association of writers PEN Internationalthese authors say they are “appalled by the violence unleashed by Russian forces against Ukraine” and “urge an end to the bloodshed.”
“We are united in condemning a senseless war, caused by President Putin’s refusal to accept the right of the Ukrainian people to discuss their future direction and history without interference from Moscow,” they write in this open letter also published in Russian and Ukrainian.
“We are united to support writers, journalists, artists, and all the Ukrainian people, who are living their darkest hours”, add these personalities, who also include the Filipino journalist Maria Ressa, Nobel Peace Prize winner, and the novelist Russian Lyudmila Oulitskaïa.
And to add: “All individuals have the right to peace, freedom of expression and freedom of assembly. Putin’s war is an attack on democracy and freedom, not only in Ukraine, but in the world. We are united in calling for peace and an end to the propaganda that fuels violence. There can be no free and secure Europe without a free and independent Ukraine. Peace must prevail.”