Avellum, April 12, 2022: Today the whole world is witnessing unheard brutality and cynicism of the Russian military aggression against Ukraine. The war that Russia started targets not only military facilities in Ukraine, but civil objects, hospitals, schools, residential, and office buildings. The mass genocide of Ukrainians has intensified, Russian invaders no longer even try to conceal their atrocities against civilians and carry them out in front of the entire world.
There are hundreds of thousands of refugees relocated from the Ukrainian regions affected by severe battles. There is vast evidence indicating that the Russian army has committed war crimes and crimes against humanity violating international law. Russian media cynically lies about the facts related to the war. We believe that there should be massive and immediate international retaliation to stop and punish aggressors and their supporters.
The civilized world responded to the Russian aggression by vast military and humanitarian aid to Ukraine and Ukrainians, as well as by imposing severe economic and financial sanctions against Russia, its functionaries, and accomplices. The purpose of the sanctions is to isolate the current political regime in Russia, as well as to stop the war and its financing.
As a law firm with high ethical standards, AVELLUM publicly committed not to provide legal advice to Russian businesses and individuals. We are pleased that many law firms in Ukraine and worldwide have taken similar decisions. We also provide regular and significant humanitarian and financial assistance to those in need, while continuing to service our clients and pay taxes to the Ukrainian budget.
The sanctions have been supported by some 450 corporations that have scaled back business in Russia as a sign of powerful condemnation of Putin’s regime. Such actions play a vital role in breaking the information bubble in which the Russian society has lived for decades. However, the efficiency of these decisions apparently depends on their concurrency and unanimity. Unfortunately, some multinational corporations continue doing business in Russia and contribute to the Russian war budget.
In this connection, we call upon all international corporations doing business in Russia to announce urgently their withdrawal from Russia. We strongly support and welcome the efforts of Ukrainian patriots and other supporters of Ukraine in these corporations who put pressure on their headquarters to achieve this goal. We also urge such international corporations to channel their efforts to humanitarian support of Ukrainian refugees and civilians affected by this war.
Unlike any other news items in CEELM, these are published as received with no other edits than outlined in this editorial note.