Russian opposition newspaper Novaya Gazeta, itself a Nobel laureate, posted an appeal on July 13, signed by 51 Nobel laureates, for an immediate ceasefire in both Ukraine and Gaza and for the world leaders to turn their attention to saving the planet instead.

The laureates come from around the world and multipole disciplines, including Chemistry, Medicine, Physics and Peace. Included in the list of signees is Svetlana Aleksievich, a Belarusian and the winner of a Nobel literature prize.

Wars are distracting humanity from its most urgent task – saving the planet – the authors say.

“During this conflict, defence budgets around the world have increased to such an extent as to be comparable to the resources required to slow global climate change. While killing each other, people are also destroying our planet,” the authors said, adding that the conflict has contributed to increased famine in Africa, a migration crisis in Europe and a lack of attention on the Climate Crisis. The authors write that the number of those killed and injured in central Europe is expected to exceed 1mn by the end of the year, a figure not seen since World War II.

“We are not representatives of states, but if the efforts of states to establish peace are not sufficient, we must take action. We implore you to do so! We ask for your help to call for a ceasefire and actions aimed at it,” the letter says adding three demands:

Cease fire!

End the loss of human life!

Prevent a nuclear disaster!

The letter is the second such letter by prominent figures published recently calling for an end to the hostilities in Ukraine. Britain’s Lord Skidelsky and other former ambassadors and dignitaries published a similar letter in the Financial Times on July 10.

Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy has recently made it clear that he is not ready for any ceasefire talks after Hungarian Prime Minister Viktor Orban launched what he has dubbed a “peace mission” and controversially met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Moscow on July 5.

The Russian version of the intro to the publication is attributed to the chief editor of Novaya Gazeta, Dmitry Muratov, who won a Nobel Peace prize in 2021 for his opposition to the Russian government.

However, in a sad irony, Novaya Gazeta, which is still based in Russia, continues to comply with draconian Russian wartime censorship legislation, so it omits the word “war” at the beginning of the letter, Ragozin points out.