Statement from GEN Russia on war in Ukraine

Since the outbreak of war, we have received messages of peace and solidarity with Ukraine from members of our network in Russia. However, until now they have felt unable to speak out openly due to the potential consequences, and the risk remains high. Nevertheless, they have shared with us this statement, also published on their website, despite the risks. We thank our friends in GEN Russia for their bravery in speaking out and share their desire for peace. You can find out more about how ecovillages are working in solidarity with Ukraine here.

For many years our organization have united ecovillages, kin domains and other rural eco-initiatives in Russia. We have built friendships with communities in Belarus, Ukraine, Europe and all over the world. We always endeavour to be apolitical and look only at what things unite us: love for the vibrant Earth, care about future generations, and ecotechnology development. This is the base that pulls us together. Political or religious ideas, beliefs and worldviews may be different. 

And yet when we got to know how seriously ecovillage Raduga (Rainbow) and kin domain settlement Dolina Dzherel in Ukraine had suffered, looking at how GEN-Ukraine has conducted peaceful volunteer activities for refugee support we should say that we deeply empathize with all people affected by this conflict. 

One of our founders Fedor Lazutin formulated the principle of nonviolence as one of our base principles along with care for the environment and the development of harmonious healthy communities. Despite the crucial situation in the world we still value the principle of non-violence and believe in the importance of non-violence wherever possible. We support a speedy cessation of the conflict and a peaceful resolution of all challenges.

PS: we’ve declared our position publicly – on our website .

GEN Russia council member Dmitry Solovyev adds: “I want to thank GEN-Russia president Ed Bychkov for his brave decision. As the president of the NGO, he takes high risks for this public antiwar declaration (see the consequences here or here).”