Scientists in Ukraine have long fought for scientific freedom

Poskett, James; Shaw, Claire

doi:10.1038/d41586-022-02825-2

COMMENT
05 September 2022

Scientists in Ukraine have long fought for scientific freedom

Researchers in the country have often shown creativity and resilience under threat. These strengths will be key to the future of science in Ukraine following Russia’s invasion.

James Poskett⁰ &
Claire Shaw¹

James Poskett
1. James Poskett is associate professor in the history of science and technology at the University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
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Claire Shaw
1. Claire Shaw is associate professor in the history of modern Russia and co-director of the European History Research Centre at the University of Warwick, Coventry, UK.
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Broken screens and furniture lay around a faded mural of Soviet propaganda images at the Duga radar facility in Chernobyl — A Soviet propaganda mural at the Duga radar station near Chernobyl in Ukraine. The facility formed part of a missile-defence system. Credit: Jeremy Horner/Panos Pictures

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World-leading zoologist Ilya Mechnikov wasn’t safe in the city of Odesa. The soldiers were breaking up protests. Students had gone missing. And the local police chief had put Mechnikov on a list of “politically untrustworthy” individuals. He decided it was time to leave. On 22 May 1882, Mechnikov handed in his resignation letter to the rector of the Imperial Novorossiya University (at the time in the Russian Empire, now Odesa National University in Ukraine), and left the country¹.

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Nature 609, 243-244 (2022)

doi: https://doi.org/10.1038/d41586-022-02825-2

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