The Board of Directors and the Academic Board of the IEP Condemn the War in Ukraine

On 24 February 2022, on the orders of President Vladimir Putin, the Russian army invaded Ukraine, instigating a high-intensity war. Despite their disproportionate military and human resources, the Ukrainian army and the broader population in Ukraine have since resisted the offensive. The list of casualties, many of which are civilian, continues to grow. Meanwhile, hundreds of thousands of people are now fleeing the conflict and the material damage in Ukraine is intensifying every day.

A major historical shift is consequently unfolding on the continent of Europe. Having rejected all attempts at mediation by the international community, Russia is in breach of international law. It has invaded an independent European country in a bid to remove its sovereignty, is now terrorising its people and seeking to spread fear among all Europeans by brandishing the threat of nuclear warfare. The Russian President has taken as his justification a baseless historical argument about the origins of the Ukrainian nation. He has knowingly made false allegations concerning genocidal practices that he claims have been committed by the government in Kyiv and has compared the latter to the Nazi regime. This unfounded propaganda deliberately misrepresents the democratic nature of the elected Ukrainian government, which has not participated in any crime against humanity. The repercussions of the war are already being felt within the European Union and will be felt still more keenly over the coming weeks and months.

The Board of Directors and the Academic Board of the IEP jointly condemn this war in the strongest possible terms. They stand in solidarity with the Ukrainian people, who are the victims of a ruthless aggression, and, more specifically, with members of the Ukrainian academic and student communities, whether these have remained in the country or are living elsewhere, including within France. The Boards applaud the courage shown by those Russians who oppose their government, particularly within the academic community. The censorship and repressive measures practiced by Putin’s government have been rifer than ever before since the liquidation in December 2020 of the organisation Memorial International, which perpetuated the memory of crimes committed by the former Soviet regime and studied the history of the USSR, and the Memorial Human Rights Centre, which investigated continuing human rights violations by the Russian Federation.

The Board of Directors and the Academic Board of the IEP approve the decisions made and measures taken by the senior management of Sciences Po to protect our students currently based in Ukraine and Russia, and to support our Ukrainian and Russian students studying within the institution. The Boards are proud to have taken measures to host researchers and students who have been forced to leave Ukraine or Russia.

The Boards call on Sciences Po, as a research university in the humanities and social sciences, to fulfil its duties to the student community and the wider public by launching research initiatives to understand the reasons for, and issues at stake, in this war and to grasp the complexity of the shifts now underway in world politics. In a context in which multilateralism is being flouted and the principles of peaceful coexistence between states have been challenged, it is precisely what Sciences Po stands for that is at stake in Ukraine, as in any invasion or annexation. For that reason, these scientific efforts to understand and explain the conflict must draw on the broader values of Sciences Po.

=> Read the Russian and Ukrainian versions

Find out more

• Insights on the War in Ukraine: Sciences Po's Response
• In the Context of the War in Ukraine, Sciences Po Takes Action
• Our Graduates are Covering the War in Ukraine