A Congress of Intellectuals against the War came into being on 14 March 2014 and held its first meeting on 19 March in Moscow’s Library for Foreign Literature. Some of those present disagreed with the use of the term “intelligentsia”, and suggested that it should be replaced by “civil society”.

Lev Ponomarev, executive director of the Movement For Human Rights, opened the meeting by explaining that the Congress had been organised on the back of the collection of signatures for the appeal “Against the War, Against the Isolation of Russia, Against the Restoration of Totalitarianism" published on 15 March in Novaya gazeta.

Those responsible for organising the Congress and the experts they had invited took to the stage to explain their views on the threat of war.


Vladimir Neklyayev (a Belarusian poet, novelist and socio-political activist), the Russian political scientist Leonid Gozman, Pavel Shelkov (representative of the “Committee of Solidarity with the Maidan”), the journalist Viktoriya Ivleva and many others then took the floor.

The Congress was brought to a close by Yekaterina Geniyva, director of the Library of Foreign Literature where the meeting was held.

Draft appeal by the Congress of Intellectuals

As representatives of the Russian intelligentsia, we have an obligation to warn the President and the government about the historical error which is being committed, namely the attempt to take control over part of another country – Ukraine, which was only recently a sister nation to us – with the help of the Russian armed forces. The first step has already been taken with the annexation of the Crimea by Russia, and the first blood has already been shed. Any steps further along this path will be accompanied by bloodshed on an unimaginable scale as well as the isolation and exclusion of Russia and ultimately its relegation to the status of a third-world country, barred from the forward march of civilisation for many decades.

At a time when the majority of our fellow citizens believe that the incipient hostilities are nothing but a harmless adventure rather than aggression under international law and a return to “might is right” and the attendant entitlement to do anything one chooses, it is incumbent upon all thinking and honest people to do everything in their power to ensure that the country does not destroy itself during this cruel experiment, just as it already almost destroyed itself during the time of the Communist experiment. Our obligation is not to give in to the brainwashing propaganda, not to succumb to hatred of kindred and distant nations, not to repeat the lies, not to denounce others and not to wallow in our own moral downfall which has already metamorphosed into patriotic ecstasy.

Even at the most dramatic points in history, the intelligentsia has always tried to restore a point of moral reference to society, since there can be no state, no politics and no economy without morals.

This is the very task we are setting ourselves now, by calling on all kinds of people to unite around the idea of a peaceful settlement of disagreements, both with Ukraine and with the global community. To unite not so much in a struggle AGAINST, but instead to stand our ground FOR. For a kindred country which cannot and should not become an aggressor. For thinking and independent people who are being declared renegades and enemies of the nation. FOR a dialogue with the modern world, which has no intention of sinking back into a prehistoric past. FOR the fate of our children, who are entitled to experience responsible freedom.

We call on everyone to join us who is not indifferent to the present and the future we are choosing.

Mikhail Agapov, historian, Siberian Division of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Vitaly Adamenko, editor
Konstantin Azadovsky, literary historian
Mikhail Ayzenberg, poet, critic
Nikolai Aleksandrov, literary historian, critic
Lyudmila Alekseyeva, human rights activist, Moscow Helsinki Group
Grigory Amnuel, producer, film director, member of Kinosoyuz
Ruben Apresyan, doctor of philosophical sciences, professor, deputy secretary of the Institute of Philosophy at the Russian Academy of Sciences
Yevgeny Ass, architect
Liya Akhedzhakova, theatre and cinema actress, People’s Artist of Russia
Viktor Bazhenov, photo-journalist
Irina Balakhonova, publisher
Garri Bardin, animator
Pavel Bardin, director
Nino Barkalaya, pianist
Aleksandr Belavin, physicist, associate member of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Andrei Bitov, writer
Yury Bogomolov, cinema historian and critic, television critic
Natella Boltyanskaya, journalist, singer-songwriter
Andrei Borodayevsky, economist and expert in international studies, publicist, writer
Lyubov Borusyak, sociologist, doctor of economics, professor at the National Research University – Higher School of Economics
Valery Borshchev, human rights activist
Alla Bossart, writer, publicist
Elena Bukvaryova, doctor of biological sciences
Dmitry Bykov, writer, poet, journalist, cinema critic, script writer
Viktor Vasilyev, member of the Russian Academy of Sciences
Yury Vdovin, human rights activist, "Civil Control"
Anatoly Vershik, Russian mathematician, doctor of physical and mathematical sciences
Alina Vitukhnovskaya, poet
Boris Vishnevsky, political scientist, publicist
Vladimir Voynovich, author
Aleksandr Voytsekhovsky, artist
Darya Volga, actress
Vladimir Volkov, doctor of philosophical sciences
Mikhail Volkov, software engineer
Lyubov Volkova, journalist, human rights activist
Anna Vorobyeva, Russian language teacher
Tatyana Vorozheykina, political scientist
Oleg Vyshemirsky, doctor and virologist
Olga Gagiyeva, lawyer
Sergei Gandlevsky, author, poet
Svetlana Gannushkina, human rights activist, "Civil Assistance"
Valery Garkalin, theatre and cinema actor, People’s Artist of Russia
Aleksandr Garros, author
Aleksandr Genis, author
Alla Gerber, author
Igor Glek, International Grand Master, President of the East Moscow Chess Federation
Leonid Gozman, social activist, Foundation for Historical Perspective
Yuliya Golova, researcher
Aleksandr Gorodnitsky, author, researcher
Igor Gorky, political scientist, doctor of political sciences
Elena Grishina, editor
Vladimir Grishkevich, doctor of geological and mineralogical sciences
Natalya Gromova, author
Marina Davydova, editor-in-chief of the journal TEATR, programme director of the Vienna Festival
Rasim Dagryakh-Zade, film historian, producer, Honoured Cultural Figure of the Russian Federation
Anna Dadeko, psychologist
Aleksei Devotchenko, actor
Andrei Desnitsky, orientalist
Aleksei Denisov, architect
Tikhon Dzyadko, journalist
Andrei Dmitriyev, author, script writer
Veronika Dolina, singer, singer-songwriter
Igor Dolutsky, history teacher
Tatyana Drubich, actress
Boris Dubin, sociologist
Valery Dymshits, professor at Saint Petersburg University
Nina Dymshits, film historian
Elena Dyakova, journalist
Kira Yegorova, actress, playwright
Galina Yelshevskaya, art historian
Irina Yemelyanova, writer
Mariya Yelifanova, journalist
Vladimir Yeremin, actor, script writer, producer
Viktor Yeroveyev, author
Mikhail Yefremov, theatre and cinema actor, Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation
Leonid Zhukhovitsky, author
Tatyana Zabelina, doctor of historical sciences, lecturer
Alisa Ivanova, director, acting teacher
Natalya Ivanova, author, literary critic, publicist
Olga Ilnitskaya, author, poet, journalist
Aleksandr Ilichevsky, poet, author
Igor Irtenyev, poet
Elena Kamburova, singer and actress, People’s Artist of Russia
Tatyana Kameneva, senior restoration architect, Honoured Artist of Russia, professor at the Moscow Architectural Institute
Sergei Karamov, author and satirist, playwright, associate member of the Petrovsky Academy of Sciences and Arts
Nina Katerli, author, journalist
Elena Katsyuba, poet
Konstantin Kedrov, poet, literary critic
Sergei Kovalev, human rights activist, "Institute of Human Rights"
Ivan Kovalenko, author, psychologist
Marina Koroleva, journalist
Grigory Kruzhkov, poet, translator
Dmitry Krymov, artist, theatrical designer, director
Arkady Kusnetsov, teacher, historian, journalist
Mikhail Kulchenko, actor, director
Olga Kuchkina, journalist
Tatyana Lazareva, television journalist
Kseniya Larina, journalist
Irina Levinskaya, historian
Olga Leontyeva, journalist
Natalya Leshchenko, teacher
Andrei Lipsky, journalist
Valery Lonskoy, film director, script writer, author
Samuel Lurye, author
Natalya Mavlevich, literary translator
Dina Magomedova, philologist
Andrei Makarevich, rock musician, poet, singer, composer
Maxim Makarov, entrepreneur
Tatyana Malanina, teacher
Viktoriya Malikova, member of the Moscow Helsinki Group
Larisa Miller, poet, author
Vladimir Mirzoyev, theatre and cinema director, theatrical designer
Elena Movchan, translator
Dmitry Muratov, journalist
Oksana Mysina, actress, director, rock singer
Sergei Neklyudov, folklorist, Orientalist
Natalya Nechayeva, author
Valery Nikolayev, journalist
Naum Nim, author
Andrei Oleynikov, doctor of philosophical sciences, lecturer at the Russian State University for the Humanities
Andrei Orlov (Orlusha), poet
Dmitry Panchenko, historian, philologist
Aleksei Paperny, musician, actor, director
Andrei Pelipenko, doctor of philosophical sciences, professor
Andrei Piontkovsky, political scientist, journalist
Igor Podolsky, neurobiologist
Alla Pokrovskaya, theatre and cinema actress, People’s Artist of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic
Natalya Polovinko, journalist
Anzhelina Polonskaya, poet, essayist
Lev Ponomarev, human rights activist, Movement "For human rights"
Nikolai Prokudin, novelist, children’s author, Afghan war veteran
Irina Prokhorova, publisher
Lev Prygunov, theatre and cinema actor, People’s Artist of Russia
Aleksey Razoryonkov, journalist, media manager
Elena Raskina, researcher, author, journalist, doctor of philosophical sciences
Marina Rasulova, lawyer
Alina Rebel, journalist, publicist
Kira Reshetnikova, sociologist, doctor of economics, lecturer at the National Research University – Higher School of Economicss
Mark Rozovsky, playwright, composer, People’s Artist of Russia
Tatyana Romanenko, co-founder of the independent newspaper "Arsenyevskie Vesti", deputy editor, doctor of technical sciences
Yury Rost, journalist
Eldar Ryazanov, film director, script writer, actor, playwright, author
Yury Ryashentsev, poet, author, script writer
Sofya Savinkskaya, jeweller
Yury Samodurov, human rights activist
Georgy Satarov, political scientist
Olga Sedakova, poet, author, philologist
Evgeny Sidorov, literary historian
Aleksei Simonov, human rights activist, author, film director
Ant Skalandis, author
Andrei Smirnov, theatre and cinema actor, director, script writer, playwright, People’s Artist of Russia
Boris Sokolov, author, historian
Sergei Sokolov, journalist
Nataliya Sokolovskaya, author
Vladimir Sorokin, author, scriptwriter, playwright
Anna Starobinets, author
Sergei Stratanovsky, poet
Lev Timofeyev, author
Aleksandr Timofeyevsky, poet
Artemy Troitsky, music critic, journalist
Varvara Turova, musician, producer
Lyudmila Ulitskaya, author
Sergei Ustinov, author
Ekaterina Ustinova, entrepreneur
Olga Ushakova, doctor of philosophical sciences
Natalya Fateyeva, theatre and cinema actress
Ashraf Fattakhov, expert
Sergei Filatov, state and social activist
Pavel Finn, script writer
Boris Frezinsky, writer
Yury Freydin, doctor, literary historian
Aleksandr Filippenko, theatre and cinema actor, People’s Artist of Russia
Efim Khazanov, physicist, associate member of the National Academy of Sciences
Nur Khayrullin, engineer, physician
Igor Kharichev, secretary of the Moscow Writers’ Union
Eduard Kharkovsky, engineer
Valery Kharchenko, film director, Honoured Artist of the Russian Federation
Oleg Khlebnikov, poet
Evgeny Tsymbal, film director, historian, script writer
Konstantin Charkovsky, researcher, IT specialist
Valery Chashin (pseudonym Egdzhe Velkayayev) , author, member of the Russian Writers’ Union
Yury Chernavsky, composer, Honoured Artist of the Russian Soviet Federated Socialist Republic
Natalya Chernova, journalist
Alan Cherchesov, author
Elena Chizhova, author
Natalya Chugunova, entrepreneur
Marietta Chudakova, author, literary historian
Pavel Chukhray, film director, People’s Artist
Grigory Chkhartishvili, author, literary historian, historian
Timur Shaov, singer-composer
Adolf Shapiro, director
Viktor Shenderovich, author, journalist, television and radio presenter
Nikita Shklovsky, doctor
Mariya Shubina, journalist
Tatyana Shcherbina, poet
Ilya Epelbaum, artist, director
Mikhail Epshteyn, linguist, cultural historian
Aleksei Yablokov, associate member of the National Academy of Sciences
Igor Yakovenko, doctor of philosophical sciences, professor
Elena Yakovich, scriptwriter, director
Irina Yasina, economist, publicist, human rights activist
Igor Yasulovich, theatre and cinema actor, People’s Artist of Russia