To: Vladimir Putin, President, Russia

cc: Jens Stoltenberg, Secretary General NATO
António Guterres, Secretary General, UN
Robert Goldman, International Court of Justice
Joe Biden, President, USA
All men and women of goodwill

Pres. Putin:

10 days ago, the Russian army began an unprovoked and illegal invasion of Ukraine. It has now murdered or disabled hundreds of innocent men, women, and children. More than 1.3 million residents are now refugees in several neighboring countries. Countless others are running out of life-saving supplies in make-shift basements and underground shelters throughout Ukraine. The Russian army has also attacked or destroyed power and other life-saving sources, including the largest nuclear power plant in Europe.

This invasion has also disrupted many human lives with deep ties in Russia and its neighboring countries. By using an overwhelming number of tanks, aircraft, artillery, bombs, and missiles, you have been responsible for bringing “hell from the skies and the ground” upon innocent lives, while destroying schools, hospitals, residences, hospices, and many other services—each vital and necessary to human life—as well as to countless numbers of buildings, bridges, and highways. This is an irresponsible and totally unacceptable “scorched earth” policy that must end immediately.

All the damage will be very difficult and expensive to repair and/or replace. You have acted vengefully without cause or care. Your army has taken control of the Nuclear Power plant at Zaporizhzhia in eastern Ukraine without the necessary expertise to manage, maintain, or to monitor its performance contrary to scientific and international standards thus putting the world at great risk of a nuclear incident.

Meanwhile, you have threatened to resort to nuclear weapons should NATO or its members act to stop these atrocities. Threats to the contrary notwithstanding, NATO is informing you and your army to immediately cease this illegal invasion and destruction in all areas within the sovereign nation of Ukraine, and to begin an expeditious withdrawal of all your arms and offensive weapons from all territories and facilities in Ukraine in their entireties, including Crimea, all nuclear plants, and the provinces of Donetsk, Karkiv, and Uhansk.

You have 24 hours beginning at 12:01 AM, Monday, Ukraine time, to order a cease fire and to begin the orderly withdrawal of all military equipment from the sovereign state of Ukraine and its territory. Your failure to comply will result in an immediate air operation to hasten your cease fire and to expedite your withdrawal, all under the auspices of NATO and world alliances. The urgencies in this message are such that we have no time to resort to more formal measures to act swiftly in the name of humanity and in the safety of all residents wherever situated.

/signatures/