The President of the Serous Officers' Assembly, Lieutenant General Leonid Grigorievich Ivashov, wrote an Appeal to the President and citizens of the Russian Federation.

"Today, humanity lives in anticipation of war. And war is the inevitable loss of life, destruction, suffering of large masses of people, destruction of the usual way of life, disruption of the vital systems of states and nations. A great war is a great tragedy, someone's grave crime. This is how Russia happened to be at the center of this impending catastrophe. And, perhaps, this is the first time in its history.

Previously, Russia (USSR) waged forced (just) wars and, as a rule, when there was no other way out, when the vital interests of the state and society were endangered.

And what threatens the very existence of Russia today and are there such threats? It can be argued that there is indeed a threat - the country is on the verge of ending its history. All vital areas, including demographics, are constantly degrading, and the rate of population extinction is breaking world records. Degradation is also systemic in nature, and in any complex system, the destruction of one of the elements can lead to the collapse of the entire system.

And this, in our opinion, is the main threat to the Russian Federation. But this is a threat of an internal nature, arising from the model of the state, the quality of power and the state of society. And the reasons for its formation are internal: the unsustainability of the state model, the complete incompetence and lack of professionalism of the system of power and administration, the passivity and disorganization of society.

As for external threats, they are certainly present. But, according to our expert assessment, they are not critical at the moment, they directly endanger the existence of Russian statehood, its vital interests. Overall, strategic stability is maintained, nuclear weapons are under secure control, NATO forces do not mobilize and show no threatening activity.

Therefore, the situation that is unfolding around Ukraine is primarily artificial, mercenary in nature for some internal forces, including the Russian Federation. As a result of the collapse of the USSR, in which Russia (Yeltsin) took a decisive role, Ukraine became an independent state, a member of the UN, and in accordance with Art. 51 of the UN Charter has the right to individual and collective defense.

The leadership of the Russian Federation has not yet recognized the results of the referendum on the independence of the DPR and LPR, while at official level more than once, including during the negotiation process in Minsk, they emphasized the affiliation of their territories and population to Ukraine. .

Also, more than once at a high level has been said about the desire to maintain normal relations with Kyiv, without distinguishing special relations with the DPR and LPR.

The issue of the genocide committed by Kyiv in the southeastern regions was not raised at either the UN or the OSCE. Naturally, for Ukraine to remain a friendly neighbor of Russia, it was necessary for it to show the attractiveness of the Russian model of state and system of power.

But the Russian Federation has not become one, its development model and foreign policy mechanism of international cooperation are rejected by almost all neighbors, and not only them.

Russia's acquisition of Crimea and Sevastopol and their non-recognition by the international community (and, therefore, the vast majority of countries in the world still consider themselves part of Ukraine) convincingly demonstrate the failure of Russian foreign policy.

Attempts to "love" the Russian Federation and its leadership through an ultimatum and threats of use of force are meaningless and extremely dangerous.

The use of military force against Ukraine will, first, call into question the very existence of Russia as a state; second, it will make Russians and Ukrainians mortal enemies forever. Third, there will be thousands (tens of thousands) of dead young, healthy boys on both sides, which will certainly reflect the future demographic situation in our dying countries. On the battlefield, if that happens, Russian troops will face not only Ukrainian military personnel, including many Russian guys, but also military personnel and equipment from many NATO countries, and alliance members will be obliged to declare war on Russia.

The President of the Republic of Turkey R. Erdogan has made it clear which side Turkey will fight on. And it can be assumed that two Turkish field armies and one fleet will be ordered to "liberate" Crimea and Sevastopol and eventually invade the Caucasus.

In addition, Russia will definitely be included in the category of countries that threaten peace and international security, will be subject to the most severe sanctions and will probably be deprived of the status of an independent state. .

The question arises: what are the real goals of provoking tensions on the brink of war and the possible onset of large-scale hostilities? And that there will be, says the number and combat composition of the groups of soldiers formed by the parties - no less and no more than a hundred thousand soldiers on each side. Russia, exposing the eastern borders, transmits formations on the borders of Ukraine.

In our view, the country's leadership, realizing that it is incapable of pulling the country out of the systemic crisis, which could lead to popular revolt and change of government in the country, with the support of the oligarchy, corrupt officials, attractive media and security forces, decided to activate the political line for the final destruction of Russian statehood and the extermination of the country's indigenous population.

And war is the means that will solve this problem in order to maintain its anti-national power for a while and to preserve the wealth stolen from the people. We can not suggest another explanation.

From the President of the Russian Federation, we are officers of Russia, we demand to give up the criminal policy of provoking a war in which the Russian Federation will find itself alone against the joint forces of the West, to create conditions for the implementation of Art. 3 of the Constitution of the Russian Federation and to resign.

"We appeal to all retired military personnel, citizens of Russia, to be vigilant, organized, to support the demands of the Council of the Serous Officers' Assembly, to actively oppose propaganda and the outbreak of war, and to prevent internal civil conflict through the use of military force." he wrote.