Nicolas Cinquini

We, the undersigned, express our support for academic freedom and Dr. Ivan Katchanovski. We might differ on various issues, but agree on the importance of academic freedom and the need to protect it when it comes under attack. Professor Katchanovski is a well-known Ukrainian and Canadian political scientist at the University of Ottawa. A recent collective letter denounced him and his open access book The Russia-Ukraine War and its Origins: From the Maidan to the Ukraine War. The letter baselessly linked this peer-reviewed book published by a major Western academic press to Russian propaganda and the high popularity of the book to behind-the-scenes promotion by Elon Musk.

Dr. Katchanovski’s other recent academic press book titled The Maidan Massacre in Ukraine:The Mass Killing that Changed the World was banned by the Ukrainian State Committee for Television and Radio Broadcasting led by a far-right OUN leader. Professor Katchanovski was also blacklisted by Myrotvorets hit list for his scholarly studies of the Maidan massacre that were published in peer-reviewed journals and books and for his exposure of a Waffen SS Galicia Division veteran, who was given standing ovations in the Canadian parliament. He also reported that his home and all other property in Ukraine were seized in retaliation to his scholarly studies. Though we might not share all of Dr. Katchanovski’s academic perspectives, we denounce the persecution against him for his scholarly research.

Dr. Katchanovski is one of the most cited political scientists who specialize primarily in the politics and conflicts in Ukraine. His academic publications include 7 books and 3 dozen refereed journal articles and book chapters. He currently teaches at the University of Ottawa. He was a Visiting Scholar at the Davis Center for Russian and Eurasian Studies at Harvard University, Visiting Assistant Professor at the Department of Politics at the State University of New York at Potsdam, a Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Department of Political Science at the University of Toronto, and a Kluge Post-Doctoral Fellow at the Kluge Center at the Library of Congress. He received his Ph.D. from the Schar School of Policy and Government at George Mason University under the direction of Seymour Martin Lipset.

We note that Dr. Katchanovski has condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine in 2022 from the start, called for a long time for European Union membership of Ukraine, and supported democracy and freedom in Ukraine since before its independence. He is also widely quoted in many outlets around the world, does numerous media and social media interviews, and presents his research at major academic conferences in the field.

Academic freedom in both the West and Ukraine is especially important during times of crisis and conflict, such as the tragic Russia-Ukraine war. Academic freedom has to be protected even for scholarly research that challenges prevailing narratives. This particularly concerns politically charged topics regarding this war and its origins. Scholars and their books and other academic publications should not be subjected to collective denunciations, censorship, sanctions, criminal prosecution, and other such retaliation for their academic research. Scholarly publications need to be judged by academic standards. Scholarly disputes need to be settled in academic venues.  

This applies to Dr. Katchanovski, his book The Russia-Ukraine War and its Origins: From the Maidan to the Ukraine War, and his other publications. Our position also applies to other scholars researching this war. We advocate for the defense of academic freedom and its application in the case of Dr. Ivan Katchanovski and his research.

Please send your name, position/job title, institutional affiliation, country, and whether you prefer that your name is not published and only your institutional affiliation and country are listed to openletter2026@gmail.com [end]

The original letter

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