Home office urged to help Russian pacifists
'The PPU said that it has remained in contact with Ukrainian and Russian peace activists throughout the war.'
Offering asylum to Russian pacifists will help halt the war in Ukraine, a leading pacifist group has said.
The Peace Pledge Union (PPU) – which includes many Quaker members – called on the UK home secretary to make a public offer of asylum to Russian soldiers who refuse to fight in Ukraine.
Writing to Priti Patel and Boris Johnson, the PPU pointed to evidence that hundreds of Russian forces personnel are questioning or disobeying their orders. The PPU said that it has remained in contact with Ukrainian and Russian peace activists throughout the war. ‘[We understand] from contacts in the Russian peace movement that there has been an increase in the number of conscripts mentioning their opposition to war in Ukraine when applying for exemption as conscientious objectors.’
Politicians of several parties backed the call, including the Scottish National Party’s constitutional affairs spokesperson, MP Tommy Sheppard.
The PPU argued that an offer of asylum would encourage disobedience among Putin’s troops. Geoff Tibbs, from the PPU, said there are already hundreds of Russian soldiers questioning or refusing orders. ‘If Boris Johnson and his ministers are serious about trying to end war in Ukraine, they should go beyond gung-ho military rhetoric and step up practical support for people resisting war. We are confident there would be widespread public support in the UK for an offer of asylum to Russian soldiers who refuse to fight.’
The Russian Movement of Conscientious Objectors said in a statement: ‘In the course of the months of warfare, we have witnessed a totally new phenomenon: cases in which professional soldiers refuse to participate in the special operation and demand to terminate their contracts.’
Elsewhere, Quakers have been speaking in the media about the challenges of responding to the war in Ukraine as a pacifist. One Dutch Quaker, Kees Nieuwerth, was interviewed in the Dutch online magazine De Bezieling about his pacifism in the face of the Russian invasion. Meanwhile, Oliver Robertson from Britain Yearly Meeting wrote a piece in The Times about how pacifists can support defence in Ukraine.
Statements from Ukrainian and Russian pacifists were read out at the International Conscientious Objectors’ Day ceremony on 15 May in London’s Tavistock Square.
