A number of sanctions have already been imposed on Russia following the escalation in Ukraine, and there is a constant flow of proposals for the new ones. Many of them target individuals that are directly involved in decision-making and economic sectors that provide support for the military operations. While those sanctions are justified, we ask you to refrain from the measures that apply to the general Russian population and the effects of which would be suffered by ordinary citizens, rather than the proponents of the conflict.

Some EU countries have suspended visa issuance for Russian citizens, and the discussion about cancellation of already issued visas is still ongoing. We fundamentally disagree with this proposal.

Currently, there are over 10 million Russian citizens living abroad, with over 6 million of them living in Europe. Russians not only work in Europe, but also live with their families, share European values, and build their lives away from Putin's regime. By abolishing visas and residence permits, you are condemning those people to struggle, leaving their homes in countries that they entered and lived in according to the law. Some of them might not have a place to return to in Russia any longer. Some of them will be forced to join the Russian army to fight in the war they despise and never supported, or be sent to a jail for a refusal.

Such measures will only damage ordinary Russians who want to study and work peacefully in Europe, who have relatives and children here, who do not wish to become involved in the military conflict, who are likely to be prosecuted in Russia for opposing the war in Ukraine. Furthermore, those sanctions will fuel Russian propaganda. And what is worse, it will show that the EU and the UK have no sympathy or support towards those Russians who are against the war and actually share democratic ideals of Europe.

There are no fair elections in Russia right now. Putin’s rule is a well-built dictatorship. It is not fair or in line with European values to hold ordinary Russian citizens responsible for Putin’s invasion into Ukraine. The war destroys futures, but also so do autocratic regimes.

We, Russian citizens who live in Europe, urge you not to impose sanctions that will hurt common Russians and will ruin our lives. We also call on the entire European community to take action to combat prejudice against Russians living in the EU. Our passports have nothing to do with our personalities and our values. We came here because we disagree with the ideology of Putin’s Russia and chose democracy instead of a dictatorship that we could not oppose. As a nation, we did not support this war and did not elect Putin. We strongly oppose the sanctions that might rip us off our futures, separate our families, and make us leave the countries many of us consider homes. We believe that the EU according to its values shall in the opposite make it easier for ordinary Russian people to leave Russia. 

We also want to emphasize that what happened is already a tragedy. We believe that the Russian people are concerned with what happened maybe even more than people in the EU, because almost each Russian has relatives and friends in the Ukraine. Thousands of people have already raised their voice against the war in Russia. Therefore we urge not to make this tragedy even worse by taking unproportionate and unfair measures against Russian citizens.

Help us in our struggle for a decent life for ordinary Russian people.