2022 address of the Russian Union of Rectors

On 4 March 2022, the Russian Union of Rectors signed an address in support of the Russian invasion of Ukraine that was taking place at the time. The letter was signed by heads of over 260 higher education institutions in Russia. It was highly publicized inside Russia, but internationally it only led to further isolation of Russian educational institutions.

Text

The Russian Union of Rectors' address speaks of the military threat to Russia coming from Ukraine and regrets the past Russian-Ukrainian scientific and educational ties. Then it speaks in support of Russian invasion of Ukraine. The address deliberately evades the word "war", which is outlawed in Russia in this context by the fake news laws. Instead, it says:

It is very important these days to support our country, our army, which defends our security, to support our President, who, perhaps, made the most difficult, hard-won but necessary decision in his life.

Next, the address calls for continuity of the educational process, says that "Universities have always been the backbone of the state" and that one of their main duties is "to instill patriotism in young people". It ends up with a call to unite around the figure of Putin.

Signatories

Famous signatories include:

• Viktor Sadovnichiy, rector of Moscow State University
• Anatoly Alexandrov, rector of the Bauman Moscow State Technical University
• Nikolay Kudryavtsev, rector of Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology
• Vladimir Litvinenko, rector of Saint Petersburg Mining University
• Mikhail Fedoruk, rector of Novosibirsk State University
• Petr Glybochko, rector of the First Moscow State Medical University
• Aleksey Demidov, rector of Saint Petersburg State University of Industrial Technologies and Design
• Dmitry Endovitsky, rector of Voronezh State University
• Sergey Ivanchenko, rector of Pacific National University
• Nikolay Kropachev, rector of Saint Petersburg State University
• Vladimir Lobanov, president of Kuban State Technological University
• Nikolay Pustovoy, president of Novosibirsk State Technical University
• Roman Strongin, president of the N. I. Lobachevsky State University of Nizhny Novgorod
• Alexander Shestakov, rector of the South Ural State University

External links

• Original text of the Address
• English translation of the Address