Open letter to Ukraine's allies: urgent call for air defense aid

Open Letter of CSOs, Intellectuals, and Opinion Leaders to Ukraine’s Allies: Urgent Call for Sufficient Aid for Air Defense Systems to Protect Ukrainian Civilians and Critical Infrastructure

We, the undersigned, extend our heartfelt gratitude for the unwavering support of Ukraine’s allies in its struggle against the existential threat to the nation posed by Russian aggression. 

Recent events have brought to light a drastic need for a comprehensive approach and urgent steps to enhance Ukraine’s air defense capabilities.

On July 8, on the eve of the 75th NATO Summit, Russia attacked Ukraine with dozens of missiles. 44 people died, and almost 200 were wounded. Included in the Kremlin’s targets for that day was the Okhmatdyt hospital in downtown Kyiv, where child cancer victims and other sick kids were being treated. This hospital, known as the "Hospital of Last Hope," is renowned for its specialized care in pediatric oncology, neurosurgery, and genetic diseases, conducting thousands of life-saving surgeries annually.

The decision to target Okhmatdyt was deliberate. There have been 1,442 Russian attacks on Ukrainian healthcare facilities since the all-out invasion of 2022. As in Syria, where Russia perfected its hospital targeting, this is simply another means to terrorize the civilian population.

These attacks constitute a blatant act of terrorism and a clear breach of international treaties that protect civilians in war zones, including the United Nations Charter, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, the Geneva Conventions, the Rome Statute, and other norms of international humanitarian law.

Since the onset of the full-scale invasion, Russia has deployed over 5,000 strategic and operational-tactical missiles and over 5,000 unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs) against Ukraine, alongside approximately 29,000 glide bombs, wreaking havoc on civilian lives and vital infrastructure.

Despite initial sanctions briefly impeding Russian missile production, its arms industry has swiftly recovered and expanded. Missile production, including ballistic and cruise missiles, has surged by 50% in 2024 compared to last year. Notably, the output of the Iranian-designed Geran-2 drone has doubled, and glide bombs in Russia’s possession have increased by a staggering 260%.

In addition to these atrocities aimed at medical staff and their patients, Russia continues to target critical infrastructure, with approximately two-thirds of Ukraine's energy-generating capacity now destroyed, damaged, or seized. Such ruthless tactics demand an urgent and robust international response.

Therefore, we urgently call upon Ukraine's allies to take long-awaited measures to protect the country's Air Space. 

While securing the delivery of F-16 fighter jets is crucial, we urge international partners of Ukraine to respond to their immediate need - additional Patriot, NASAMS, IRIS-T systems, and other critical air defense systems, along with sufficient SAMs. These defenses are essential to establishing a robust shield against cruise and ballistic missile strikes deep within Ukrainian territory.

We also encourage discussions on whether Russian missiles can be intercepted over Ukraine by systems based in NATO neighbors. This approach mirrors the recent bilateral agreement between Ukraine and Poland, setting a precedent for regional cooperation. And we urge you to consider increasing military support for Ukraine from Western democracies to 0.25% of GDP. 

Ukrainian society remains resilient and united in the face of adversity. As civil society, intellectuals and opinion leaders, we urge allies to stand with Ukraine, to defend democracy, and to protect the innocents who have been caught up in this senseless aggression. Together, we can uphold the values of justice and freedom that bind us as a global community.

With deepest appreciation and steadfast hope,

Respectfully!

The signees:

Oleksandra Matviichuk, Head of the Center of Civil Liberties

Lesia Orobets, Founder of the "Safe Sky for Ukraine" Initiative

Ben Hodges, Former Commander US Army Europe 

Veronika Velch, communications expert 

Dr. Olena Davlikanova, political analyst, Sumy State University

Pat Cox, Former President of the European Parliament

Mykola Riabchuk, honorary president of Ukrainian PEN Center

Serhii Plokhii, Ukrainian and American historian

Myroslav Marynovych, Co-founder and former member of the Ukrainian Helsinki Group (Human Rights Monitor), philosopher, religious scholar

Andriy Pavlyshyn, historian, translator, member of the Ukrainian PEN

Oleh Sentsov, Film director

Oksana Forostyna, Ukrainian journalist, writer, translator and publisher

Dacian CIOLOS, Former Prime Minister of Romanian Government

Yevhen Hlibovytsky, Director of the Frontier Institute

Yaroslav Hrytsak, Professor of Ukrainian Catholic University

Alyona Getmanchuk, Director of the New Europe Center

Sergiy Solodkyy, First Deputy Director of the New Europe Center 

Ihor Poshyvailo, General Director of the National Memorial to the Heavenly Hundred Heroes and Revolution of Dignity Museum (Maidan Museum)

Ola Hnatiuk, Professor at the National University of Kyiv-Mohyla Academy (NaUKMA), Professor Emerita at the University of Warsaw

Andreas Umland, German political scientist

Alexander Motyl, American historian, political scientist, writer

Konstantin Sigov, Director of the Spirit & Letter Publishing House

Prof. Olexiy Haran, Research Director at the Ilko Kucheriv Democratic Initiatives Foundation

Lyuba Shipovich, Director of the Dignitas Fund

Maria Berlinska, Head of the Victory Drones Project  

Olena Halushka, Co-founder of the International Center for Ukrainian Victory

Nataliya Gumenyuk, CEO of the Public Interest Journalism Lab 

Sergej Sumlenny, Managing Director of the European Resilience Initiative Center

Edwin Bendyk, Chairman of the Board at Stefan Batory Foundation

Igor Shchupak, Director of "Tkuma" Ukrainian institute for Holocaust Studies

Zenon Kowal, diplomat, former head of mission of the French-speaking governments of Belgium

Geert Cami, Co-Founder and Secretary-General of Friends of Europe

Oleksandra Suprun, Programme Manager of Friends of Europe

Paul Révay, a member of the Board of Trustees of Friends of Europe 

Stefan Fule,  a member of the Board of Trustees of Friends of Europe 

Igor Chocholak, President of the Association of Ukrainians in Belgium 

Anne-Solène Rolland, Scientific Director of French Museum

Jasminko Halilovic, Founder & Director-General of the War Childhood Museum

Plamen Pantev, Founder and Director of the Institute for Security and International Studies, Sofia

Juraj Majcin, Policy Analyst for Defence & Security of the European Policy Centre

Linas Linkevičius, Former Minister of Foreign Affairs and Defence of Lithuania

Hlib Vyshlinsky, Executive Director at Centre for Economic Strategy  

Marietje Schaake, Former Member of the European Parliament from the Netherlands

Olga Bielkova, Former Member of the Ukrainian Parliament 

Andris Piebalgs, Latvian politician and diplomat

Dariia Mykhailyshyna, Ukrainian economist

Ricardo Baptista Leite, Founder & President of UNITED Parliamentarians Network for Global Health

Lindsey N. Clarke, Founder & Director of Women's WorldWide Web (W4)

Ari-Pekka Liukkonen, Olympian swimmer, Finland

Dorica Dan, President of the Romanian National Alliance for Rare Diseases (RONARD)

Victoria Vdovychenko, Program Director for Security Studies at the Center for Defence Strategies

Kulesha Tatiana, Board of Directors of  EURORDIS and Chairman of the Board of the NGO "Rare Diseases of Ukraine"

Olena Shershun, Associate Partner at CIVITTA Ukraine

Dmytro Baranov, Director of Justice For Ukraine Foundation

Katarzyna Anna Nawrot, Professor of Poznan University of Economics and Business

Klen Jäärats, Estonia

Alex Tempel, Policy Advisor of GIZ

Kerstin Duhme, expert in strategic communications, Brussels

Georges Dallemagne, Belgian politician and doctor

Nazar Bobitski, a former Ukrainian diplomat 

Michael Wilbur, Chief Operating Officer of  EURORDIS-Rare Diseases Europe 

Dora Chomiak, CEO of Razom for Ukraine 

Lilia Pustovit, Owner & Art Director of Poustovit ltd Fashion house  

Olena Tsybulska, Musician at DakhaBrakha band 

Olga Dukhnich, Ukrainian journalist

Cengiz Aktar, Turkish political scientist, journalist, writer

Zoriana Rybchynska, Head of the Culrural Studies Department of the Ukrainian Catholic University

Yurij Holovatch, Professor at the Institute for Condensed Matter Physics of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine

Martin Schulze Wessel, German historian

Kai Struve, German historian

Bohdan Novosyadlyj, Ukrainian astrophysicist

Jurij Kozicki, Polish mathematician

Olena Dzhedzhora, Ukrainian historian

Krzysztof Czyżewski, President of the Borderland Foundation

Tomasz Kamusella, Polish historian and publicist 

Viktoriia Lavrynenko, Ukrainian podcast producer

Olivier Dupuis, Former Member of the European Parliament

Petro Dolhanov, Ukrainian historian 

Ineta Dabašinskienė, Lithuanian scientist in the field of linguistics

Andrea Graziosi, Italian historian

Wolfgang Mueller, contemporary history and Russian studies researcher 

Małgorzata Gorczyńska, Polish scientist in the field of linguistics

Michael Moser, Austrian philologist, Slavologist

Guido Hausmann, German historian (East and Southeast European Studies)

Oleksandr Kruglov, Ukrainian historian

Mariya Donska, a scientist in the field of Slavic studies

Ruslan Kavatsiuk, President of DreamKyiv NGO

Oksana Mikheieva, Professor at the Ukrainian Catholic University

Alti Rodal, Co-Director of the Ukrainian Jewish Encounter

Rev. Iouri Koslovskii, Director of the Collegium of Ukrainian Catholic University

Elizabeth Hull, an expert in American government, Constitutional law and civil liberties, Rights of prisoners

Oksana Bashuk, activist

Andreas Kappeler, Austrian historian

Jurij Dobczansky, Librarian at Library of Congress

Halyna Hryn, President of the Shevchenko Scientific Society in the US

Oleh Wolowyna, full member of the Shevchenko Scientific Society 

Orest Deychakiwsky, Co-chair of the Transatlantic Task Force for Ukraine

Rory Finnin, Professor of Ukrainian Studies at the University of Cambridge

Oksana Piaseckyj, National Culture Chair of Ukrainian Women's League of America

Halyna Traversa, Social Welfare Chair of Ukrainian Women's League of America

Inia Tunstall, member of Ukrainian Women's League of America

​​Peter J Piaseckyj, Memeber of the Ukrainian American Veterans

Nicholas Adam Turinski, retired from Canadian Government Public Service

Roman D. Hryciw, Ph.D. Civil Engineering, US

Gennadi Poberezny, Professor at Ukrainian Free University  

Myroslav Shkandrij, Canadian literary and art critic

Professor Lubomyr Luciuk, Canadian historian

Martina Winkler, German historian

Prof. Dr. Tomas Halik, Czech Catholic priest, philosopher, and theologian

Andrew Ripecky, Former president Former president of Ukrainian Medical Association of North America 

Dr. Liudmyla Pidkuimukha, Ukrainian linguist

Ingrida Unikaitė-Jakuntavičienė, Lithuanian political scientist

Michael Naydan, American professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures

Mykhailo Honchar, Associate professor of Pedagogy and Education Management Department of Kherson Academy of Continuing  Education

Oleh Tretiak, Emeritus Professor at Drexel University, US

NAFO Bremen

Askold Melnyczuk, Editor, Publisher of Arrowsmith Press

Nina Tsybulko, volunteer at Non-profit organization Misto Syly

Alexander B. Kuzma, Chief Development Officer at Ukrainian Catholic University Foundation

Martin J. Kümmel, German linguist

Alexander Ebner, German sociologist

Bohdan Klid, Ukrainian and Canadian historian

Paul Micevych, neuroscientist, US

Markus Fulmek, Professor at Universität Wien

David R. Marples, Canadian historian

Alexandra Stefanyshyn, Active member of Republican Party  

Barbara Dash, librarian at US government agency

Petro Hewka, President of the Philadelphia Chapter of Ukrainian Engineers' Society of America

Jars Balan, Research Associate at University of Alberta

Yuliya Ilchuk, Professor, Director of Slavic Studies Program at Stanford University 

Taras Koznarsky, Canadian literary critic and historian

Bohdan Vitvitsky, American lawyer 

Victoria Karpiak, Executive Member of Ottawa-Gatineau branch of the Ukrainian National Federation 

Anni Beck, Mitglied at Nafo HB 

Vladyslav Yatsenko, Chief editor of "Історичний вебінар\Historical webinar" Youtube channel 

John-Paul Himka, Canadian historian

Maksym Vakulenko, linguist scientist

Wioleta Grzesiak, Project manager at UA Future  

Dr Ihor Cehelsky MD, lifetime member of UIA

Tilman Eichstädt, COO at Hellofresh, Germany  

Taras Banakh, Professor of Mathematics at Ivan Franko National University of Lviv

Tatiana Rad, Member of Ukrainian Women's League of America

Katja Kolcio, Associate Professor and Chair at Wesleyan University

Bruno Heidlberger, Assistant Professor at Freie Universität Berlin  

Walter Clemens, Emeritus professor at Boston University

Irene Zabytko, writer

Elżbieta Kwiecińska, Assistant Professor at the Polish Academy of Sciences

Marta Farion, Vice-President of the Ukrainian World Congress

Oleh S. Ilnytzkyj, Professor Emeritus at the University of Alberta 

Olga Bertelsen, historian, researcher of Global Security and Intelligence 

Yurij Wowczuk, Director of the Vovk Foundation Inc., Organization for the Defense of Four Freedoms of Ukraine (ODFFU)

Joshua D. Zimmerman, Professor of History, Chair in Holocaust Studies at Yeshiva University 

Francis Flaherty, writer, US 

Olena Zotova, Professor at Penn State University

Tomasz Stryjek, Polish historian

Yaryna Fedus, Doctor 

Nadiyka Gerbish, Ukrainian writer, journalist, translator

Piotr Osęka, Polish historian

Marianna Yeleiko, Director of the Ukrainian Charitable Foundation 'Bohdan Hawrylyshyn Family Foundation'

Tetiana Brynzak, HR at Dragon Capital

Mykola Hryckowian, President of Organization for the Defense of the Four Freedoms for Ukraine 

Ulana Holovatch, Associate Professor of the Ukrainian Catholic University

Daniel Katscher, Doctoral Student at the University of Vienna

Joanna Konieczna-Sałamatin, Professor at the University of Warsaw

Prof. Dr. Joachim von Puttkamer, German historian

Holly Case, American historian

Bohdan O. Gerulak, member of the American Institute of Architects (AIA)

Trojanowski Bogdan, Director of the Svichado Publishers

Khrystyna Cholach, licensing rights manager at Svichado Publishers Ltd.

Valeriia Kolinchasik, CEO Assistant at LEVIT Publishing House

Sergiy Yakovenko, Associate Professor of West Virginia University 

Nicholas Rudnytzky, Dean of Academic Services at Manor College

Liudmyla Voronchenko, Director of Tulip Publishing House

Pavlo Bandriwsky, Chicago Branch President of the Organization for the Defense of Four Freedoms For Ukraine 

Domas Boguševičius, Lithuanian historian

Roman Andryxzyk, member of the Ukrainian Federation of America

Vera M. Andryczyk, Former President of the Ukrainian Federation of America

Eiji Furukawa, Visiting Professor at the Akita International University

Dariusz Stola, Polish historian

Ariel Rose, editor at "Both Sides of the Border Face East"

Dr. Dmytro Berdnik, Head of Markets' Development Fund 

Harald Binder, Founder of the Center for Urban History

Dr. Natalia Pylypiuk, Professor Emerita at the University of Alberta

Vera Yuzyk, member of the Ukrainian National Federation of Ottawa

Maria Flynn, Public Relations of the Ukrainian National Women's League of America

Jerome P Flynn, Professor at Rutgers University

Lada Roslycky LLM PhD, Founder at Black Trident LLC

Yurii Herasin, Student of the Technische Universität Ilmenau

Grzegorz Skrukwa, Polish historian

Fjoralba Caka, Lecturer of the Faculty of Law University of Tirana

Joséphine Goube, CEO of Sistech

Tijana Tamburic, Co-Founder of Female Narratives

Łukasz Dziekoński, CEO of Montis Capital

Maria Vircikova, Co-Founder and CEO of MATSUKO

Kamilla Sultanova, Founder of ConnectUz

Paul Ames, writer

Philippe Maze-Sencier, President of Teneo France 

Ringailė Trakymaitė, Lithuanian linguist

Paweł Radziszewski, Chief Engineer of Nevomo, Poland 

Mridula Ghosh, Board Chair at East European Development Institute, Associate Professor at NaUKMA