On December 13, 2022, Neighbors witnessed Dr. Volodymyr Petrovych Vorovka, 52, be taken from his home by men wearing Russian military uniforms. Since the abduction, his family has been unable to obtain any information.
Tatyana Moskalkova
Russia’s Human Rights Commissioner for Human Rights
Smolensky Blvd 19, Bld. 2
119121 Moscow, Russia
Cc: Dmitro Lubinets
Ukraine’s Human Rights Commissioner
21/8, Instytutska Street
Kyiv 01008, Ukraine
hotline@ombudsman.gov.ua
The Committee of Concerned Scientists is an independent organization of scientists, physicians, engineers, and scholars devoted to the protection and advancement of human rights and scientific freedom for colleagues all over the world.
We are seeking your help in finding a missing person and returning him to his family: Dr. Volodymyr Petrovych Vorovka, 52, is a geologist with many scientific publications and a Professor of Environment and Natural Resources at Melitopol Pedagogical University.
According to the neighbors of Dr. Vorovka, he was abducted from his private house in the village of Tambovka near Melitopol (Zaporizhzhia oblast) by men wearing Russian military uniforms on December 13, 2022. At approximately 7 am, a group of soldiers led by an officer arrived at the location in three cars and a minivan. After spending an hour and a half in Professor Vorovka’s house, they led him out, forced him into one of their cars, and left.
The family of Dr. Vorovka has been unable to obtain any information about his fate ever since. An appeal on his behalf has been circulated among science institutions worldwide by the Academic Council of the Institute of Geological Sciences of the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine.
We urge you to obtain information about Professor Vorovka’s whereabouts from the Russian military authorities responsible for his abduction. As a noncombatant who devoted his life to science, he must be immediately released and returned to his family.
Signatures:
Joel. L. Lebowitz, Paul H. Plotz, Walter Reich, Eugene M. Chudnovsky, Alexander Greer
Co-Chairs, Committee of Concerned Scientists