A statement on behalf of the London Mathematical Society by its President, Professor Ulrike Tillmann
The Society is horrified and outraged by the invasion of Ukraine by Russian government forces. The devastation inflicted on Ukraine and its people is appalling and the Society condemns it in the strongest possible terms. The Society also deplores the repression and persecution of any Russians brave enough to speak out against their government. The Society stands in solidarity with everyone affected.
The Society champions the sharing of mathematical knowledge and the development of an international community of mathematicians. But the aggression of the Russian government means that continued joint working with Russian institutions must be urgently reconsidered.
The Society is reviewing all its activities in light of the invasion of Ukraine and the resulting UK government sanctions on Russia. In February, the Society announced that, as the Adhering Organisation to the International Mathematical Union (IMU) for the UK, it would not send delegates to the International Congress of Mathematicians (ICM) scheduled to take place in July 2022 in St Petersburg and strongly recommended that the IMU not hold the ICM in Russia. The IMU decided shortly thereafter that the ICM 2022 would take place as a fully virtual event, hosted outside Russia. The Society welcomes that decision. The Society has suspended journal exchanges with Russian institutions and is scrutinising its academic publishing activities more broadly. We will be taking further steps as soon as possible.
The Society has set up a Working Group to coordinate the Society’s response. The Working Group is chaired by Vice-President Iain Gordon and its membership includes the Society’s President, Treasurer, Publications Secretary, Programme Secretary and the Chair of the Society’s Committee for Women and Diversity in Mathematics. The Working Group will work alongside the Society’s Committees and report to the Society’s Council.
The Society is also seeking to work with other UK and international mathematical societies and institutions to assist mathematicians who seek refuge in the UK. We want to welcome them into the UK mathematical community and to help them recover and restart their careers.
Updates on progress will appear on the website as further action is taken.