Letter
Over 1,000 Nobel laureates, writers and artists condemn Russia's invasion of Ukraine
PEN International, the literary and free expression organization, has released a letter signed by over 1000 writers worldwide, expressing solidarity with writers, journalists, artists, and the people of Ukraine, condemning the Russian invasion and calling for an immediate end to the bloodshed.
Read in Ukrainian, Russian, Arabic.
To our friends and colleagues in Ukraine,
We, writers around the world, are appalled by the violence unleashed by Russian forces against Ukraine and urgently call for an end to the bloodshed.
We stand united in condemnation of a senseless war, waged by President Putin’s refusal to accept the rights of Ukraine’s people to debate their future allegiance and history without Moscow’s interference.
We stand united in support of writers, journalists, artists, and all the people of Ukraine, who are living through their darkest hours. We stand by you and feel your pain.
All individuals have a right to peace, free expression, and free assembly. Putin’s war is an attack on democracy and freedom not just in Ukraine, but around the world.
We stand united in calling for peace and for an end to the propaganda that is fueling the violence.
There can be no free and safe Europe without a free and independent Ukraine.
Peace must prevail.
Signatories
Burhan Sonmez, Svetlana Alexievich, Margaret Atwood, Paul Auster, Tsitsi Dangarembga, Anthony Doerr, Jonathan Franzen, Aleksandar Hemon, Siri Hustvedt, Yann Martel, Benjamin Moser, Joyce Carol Oates, Orhan Pamuk, Maria Ressa, Salman Rushdie, Elif Shafak, Colm Toibin, Olga Tokarczuk, Ludmila Ulitskaya. Read the full list of signatories here.
Originally published at on