'Stop the war!': The paradox of 'pressure petitions' Lisa Lock Scientific Editor Andrew Zinin Chief Editor They knew their gesture was futile and could have serious personal repercussions, but that didn't stop more than 1.5 million Russians from signing anti-war petitions after their country invaded Ukraine. Hours after Russia invaded Ukraine on Feb. 24, 2022, a wave of pen-and-ink protests to end the war swept the country.

In just nine days, 91 separate petitions calling on Russian forces to withdraw gathered more than 1.5 million signatures. Days later, on March 4, harsh new federal laws criminalizing anti-war speech shut them down. Most of those who signed the petitions knew their actions would have no impact on the Kremlin's decisions.

So why did so many risk publicly associating themselves with a cause they knew was futile? Guillaume Sauvé, a researcher at Université de Montréal's Center for International Studies (CÉRIUM), and Maxime Duchâteau, a Ph.D. student in the Department of Political Science, set out to explain this paradox.

They examined 91 petitions and open letters, conducted semistructured interviews with 10 initiators and signers, traveled to meet political exiles in France, Armenia, Georgia and Kazakhstan, and connected remotely with anti-war activists still in Russia. The researchers' findings were recently published in the U.K. journal Problems of Post-Communism.

Demands to retract Even before Russia's "war censorship laws" were passed on March 4, petition signers faced immediate repercussions, including disciplinary hearings for professors, formal warnings for journalists and teachers, and widespread demands to retract their signatures. For example, the day after signing a petition, a Moscow movie theater employee was reportedly given the choice of issuing a public denial or resigning. An April 2022 survey by a Russian teachers' group that had organized an open letter found that 28% of respondents had faced pressure to recant, including administrative reprimands, gag orders and threats of dismissal.

With the March 4 laws, the stakes became even higher. Anyone convicted of "discrediting" the Russian armed forces now faced up to 15 years in prison. In the days that followed, more than half of the petitions (51 out of 91) were withdrawn.

"It was an unprecedented event in the history of Russian petitions," said Duchâteau. However, some Russians kept signing. Physicist Boris Shtern kept his open letter for scientists and science journalists online despite pressure from the FSB, Russia's federal security service.

While many of the original signers asked for their names to be removed, dozens of new signatures were added. After the authorities blocked the site, Shtern moved it to a mirror site hosted abroad. Specific communities signed One distinctive feature of the petitions was that 86% originated from specific communities: journalists, psychologists, economists, tour guides, chess players, university staff and students.

The working class was almost entirely absent, whereas it usually figures prominently in protests over specific local issues. "There's a long tradition dating back to the 19th century of the Russian intelligentsia asserting its political views," Duchâteau explained.