STATEMENT AND APPEAL OF THE UKRAINIAN PEACE COUNCIL
STATEMENT AND APPEAL
of the Ukrainian Peace Council
to the Governments of the Countries of the World, the United Nations, the European Union, UNESCO, and International Scientific and Civil Society Organizations
Kyiv, 29 September, 2026
The Ukrainian Peace Council, with profound sorrow and indignation, addresses the governments of the countries of the world, international organizations, the scientific community, and all people of goodwill in connection with yet another war crime committed by the Russian Federation against the civilian population of Ukraine.
On 28 September 2026, a direct strike by a Russian attack drone on the building of the Presidium of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine at 54 Volodymyrska Street in central Kyiv — a historical and architectural monument and one of the principal centres of Ukrainian science, where Volodymyr Vernadsky, Ahatanhel Krymsky, Oleksandr Bohomolets, Borys and Yevhen Paton, and many other distinguished scientists worked over the course of more than a century — resulted in deaths, injuries, and other casualties, including among civilian scientific personnel. At approximately the same time, an enemy drone also struck a nearby civilian medical clinic, demonstrating the grave danger that such attacks pose to the civilian population and civilian infrastructure of Ukraine’s capital.
This attack is not an isolated incident but part of the systematic missile and drone strikes by the Russian Federation that have inflicted immense suffering on Ukraine’s civilian population and damaged the country’s scientific, educational, cultural, and humanitarian potential. Missile and drone attacks by the aggressor continue across the entire territory of Ukraine, bringing new destruction and loss of life every day. Residential buildings, hospitals, kindergartens, schools, universities, libraries, cultural institutions, energy facilities, and other civilian infrastructure are being struck. Innocent civilians — children, women, elderly people, medical professionals, educators, and scientists — are among the victims.
The Ukrainian Peace Council declares that the systematic terror against the civilian population of Ukraine constitutes:
a grave violation of international humanitarian law, including the Geneva Conventions and their Additional Protocols, which provide for the protection of civilians and civilian objects during armed conflicts;
a manifestation of state terror, directed against human life and security, as well as against the science, education, culture, and historical memory of the Ukrainian people;
further evidence of the criminal nature of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine, which has resulted in numerous civilian casualties and widespread destruction of civilian infrastructure.
In this regard, the Ukrainian Peace Council calls upon the governments of the countries of the world, the United Nations, the European Union, the OSCE, UNESCO, and international scientific, human rights, and civil society organizations to:
1. Strongly condemn the war crimes committed by the Russian Federation against the civilian population and civilian infrastructure of Ukraine.
2. Help ensure accountability for this and other international crimes committed in the course of Russia’s aggression against Ukraine by supporting their proper documentation and investigation by the International Criminal Court and other competent international and national authorities.
3. Strengthen sanctions pressure on the Russian Federation, including restrictions aimed at preventing the production and supply of components, technologies, and equipment used in the manufacture of missiles and attack drone systems.
4. Strengthen support for Ukraine’s air and counter-drone defence capabilities necessary to protect civilians, residential buildings, scientific institutions, educational and medical facilities, cultural sites, and critical infrastructure from further attacks.
5. Restrict institutional cooperation with Russian state scientific and educational institutions involved in supporting the aggression against Ukraine and prevent international scientific cooperation from being used to legitimize war and aggression.
6. Contribute to the earliest possible achievement of a just and lasting peace, based on respect for Ukraine’s sovereignty and territorial integrity, the Charter of the United Nations, and the principles of international law.
The Ukrainian Peace Council expresses its sincere condolences to the families and loved ones of those who lost their lives, wishes a swift recovery to the wounded and injured, and expresses its solidarity with the Ukrainian scientific community and the whole of Ukraine’s civil society.
We are convinced that crimes against civilians, science, education, and culture must not remain without an appropriate response from the international community. Impunity and inaction create conditions for further crimes to be committed.
The Ukrainian Peace Council calls upon the international community to demonstrate solidarity and take resolute action — to end the violence, protect human lives, restore a just peace, and safeguard the future of science and civilization.
Presidium of the Ukrainian Peace Council