Leading Russian Cinematographers Speak Out Against War in Ukraine (EXCLUSIVE)

An open letter against the war in Ukraine has been signed by prominent Russian cinematographers, spearheaded by Fedor Lyass (“Hardcore Henry”).

The signatories include Roman Vasyanov (“Suicide Squad,” “Fury”), Mikhail Krichman (“Loveless,” “Leviathan”), Pavel Kapinos (“Hardcore Henry”), Vladislav Opelyants (“Leto,” “Petrov’s Flu,” “Persian Lessons”) and Pavel Fomintsev (“Unclenching the Fists”).

Since Russia’s attack on Ukraine began on Feb. 24, Russian filmmakers and animators have bravely rallied and spoken out against their government’s actions and have called upon the international community for support. In doing so, the signatories have put themselves at risk on both personal and professional levels. Alexander Rodnyansky, the two-time Oscar-nominated producer of “Leviathan,” “Loveless” told Variety last week that he felt “unbearably ashamed” and “incredibly, deeply sad” when news of the Russian invasion of Ukraine broke.

The letter’s full translated text and list of the signatories are below:

We, Russian cinematographers, demand a stop to military aggression against Ukraine, an immediate ceasefire, and a withdrawal of Russian troops from Ukrainian territory.

On February 22, 2022, Russia started a war with Ukraine. There is no geopolitical excuse, no goal of any kind that would justify taking human lives – don’t let propaganda convince you otherwise. The officially stated aims of this “operation” have nothing to do with reality: the war is being fought across all of Ukraine, people are being killed or forced to flee their homes and spend their nights in bomb shelters. What can possibly justify that? What greater purpose is worth the people of Kyiv learning to tell a Grad rocket from a Smerch rocket by the sound? No such purpose exists.

The so-called “military operation” will isolate Russia from the rest of the world for decades, expel it from the international cultural scene, lead to devastating consequences for its economy, and stain us and our children with deserved disgrace. We have not done enough to prevent this war, but we do not want it — and will not let it be waged in our name.

We demand that the war with Ukraine be stopped.

Fedor Lyass

Roman Vasyanov
Michael Hasaya
Pavel Kapinos
Levan Kapanadze
Eduard Moshkovich
Alexey Berkovich
Alexander Ilhovsky
Boris Litovchenko
Ulugbek Khamraev
Denis Panov
Evgeniy Privin
Mikhail Mukasey
Dasha Grafova
Mikhail Dementyev,
Dmitry Gribanov
Mikhail Kvirikadze
Pavel Beklemishev
Sergey Astakhov
Gleb Filatov
Sergey Machilskiy
Yuriy Korobeynikov
Yuriy Nikogosov
Andrey Krauzov
Evgeny Kozlov
Mikhail Krichman
Denis Firstov
David Khayznikov
Vladislav Opelyants
Tim Lobov
Denis Alarkon
Vladimir Bashta
Maxim Trapo
Pyotr Dukhovskoy
Maxim Zhukov
Dmitry Maltsev
Evgeniy Korzhenkov
Vladimir Ushakov
Alexander Nosovskiy
Anton Drozdov-Schastlivtsev
Alexander Ponomarev
Mila Shamraeva
Dmitry Shabanov
Marlen Butros Yusef
Sergey Komarov
Andrey Ivanov
Ivan Kochubeyev
Timofey Fastovskiy
Alexey Yankov
Andrey Danelyan
Arkadiy Chistyakov
Mark Miller
Alexander Grinash
Victor Sapozhnikov
Artem Sadovnikov
Lyudmila Kuropyatkinova
Nikita Petsa
Stanislav Ambartsumov
Vladislav Politik
Karim Imamiev
Arsen Sarkisyan
Ksenia Selvian
Alexey Artamonov
Vladimir Borisov
Timur Gavrilenko
Artur Kreytor
Anna Rozhetskaya
Roman Sivozhelezov
Valentin Piskun
Egor Danilov
Gleb Neupokoev
Maxim Efros
Ivan Tyshko
Alexander Nikolskiy
Fedor Orlovskiy
Andrey Vorobyev
Denis Aleksanyan
Anton Verbin
Gleb Klimov
Anton Zhabin
Pavel Fomintsev
Igor Buryak
Vyacheslav Lazarev
Igor Kozhevnikov
Oleg Kolskiy
Vasiliy Ivanov
Gleb Kurochkin
Leonid Proshak
Andrey Ivanov
Alexander Panichkin
Mitya Smirnov
Evgeniy Antipov
Alexander Dmitriev
Alexandra Avdonina
Vasiliy Shirokiy
Vladimir Timchuk
Dima Yekimov
Matvey Stavitskiy
Mikhail Senin
Avel Dotsenko
Robert Sarukhanyan
Ilya Grizenko
Nikolay Smirnov
Dmitriy Tskhai
Ilya Lavrov
George Shanovich
Alexander Aleshkovskiy
Alexey Khaustov
Lotos Soony Park
Vyacheslav Lazarev
Sergey Politik
Ilya Averbakh
Dmitriy Dolinin
Dmitri Blueglass
Anna Shepilova
Konstantin Artseulov
Alexander Galkin
Andrey Nikolaev

Subscribe to Variety Newsletters and Email Alerts!