On October 10, during the massive Russian missile attacks on Ukraine, the office of the National Antarctic Scientific Center was partially destroyed. This news caused great excitement among our readers and friends, and we are sincerely grateful to everyone for the words of support. In particular, we have several letters from abroad that we would like to share.
Colleagues from the station in Greenland, the US science program wrote: “The continuing tragedy of this war has not only created suffering for all involved but has now spread into the world’s sanctuary of your Antarctic program. Our condolences to your country, your people and your science”.
British polar explorers from British King Edward Point said: “Seeing the pictures, it is easy to imagine how our own offices in Cambridge would look in a similar situation, and that would be so distressing”.
Colleagues from the Thuringian Institute for Sustainability and Climate Protection posted the news and a photo of the destroyed NASC office on their Instagram page (@thinkjena).
And the South African newspaper Daily Maverick, with a readership of 8 million, devoted an entire article to this topic under the eloquent headline “A crime against science”. (Thank you, Tiara Walters).
And many, many more important and sincere words were said in the unofficial correspondence.
Thank the world for being with us! With such support both in the international community and within Ukraine, we will have even more strength and inspiration to continue our scientific work, to expand and deepen it. And especially after our Victory.
P.S. We received a picture called “Solidarity” by Alan Hemmings from New Zealand. This poignant photo is like a reproduction of the one with lonely toy penguins in the NASC office.