OPEN LETTER OF FOUR NATIONAL PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATIONS TO THE INTERNATIONAL PSYCHOLOGICAL COMMUNITY

Чотири національні психологічні асоціації — України, Литви, Естонії та Румунії — звернулися з відкритим листом до міжнародної психологічної спільноти у зв’язку із запрошенням одного з керівників Російського психологічного товариства виступити з ключовою доповіддю на 31-му Міжнародному конгресі з прикладної психології у Флоренції. 

Ми наголошуємо: це звернення не стосується національності чи академічних здобутків запрошеного учасника. Воно стосується етичної відповідальності міжнародної психологічної спільноти та неприпустимості надання престижних професійних платформ представникам керівництва організації, чиї офіційні рішення та публічні дії сприяли підтримці війни, окупації українських територій і використанню психології для виправдання російської агресії. 

Ми закликаємо організаторів ICAP 2026 переглянути це запрошення, а психологічні асоціації, академічні установи та окремих фахівців у всьому світі — підтримати наше звернення і чітко засвідчити: психологія не повинна ставати інструментом легітимізації війни та окупації:

Serious Concerns Regarding the Invitation of a Senior Leader of the Russian Psychological Society, 

Whose Leadership Has Supported Russia’s War Against Ukraine, to Deliver a Keynote Address at the 

31st International Congress of Applied Psychology in Florence

The National Psychological Association of Ukraine, the Lithuanian Psychological Association, the Union of Estonian Psychologists and the Romanian Psychological Association address the international psychological community to express our serious concern regarding the invitation of a senior leader of the Russian Psychological Society (RPS)¹ to deliver an invited keynote address² at the 31st International Congress of Applied Psychology (ICAP), to be held in Florence, Italy, from 21 to 25 July 2026.³

ICAP is the flagship congress of the International Association of Applied Psychology and presents its keynote programme as featuring leading psychologists from around the world. A keynote invitation is not ordinary participation in academic exchange. It confers exceptional visibility, professional recognition and institutional legitimacy. Through this invitation, a member of the RPS senior leadership is not merely attending the congress, but is being presented as an invited voice of authority at a major international psychology event held in Europe.

At a time when Russia continues its war against Ukraine, a sovereign European state, granting such a prominent platform to a senior leader of an organisation whose governing body and senior officials have taken documented actions supporting that war raises serious ethical and professional concerns. Our concern is not based on the nationality or academic achievements of the invited speaker. It concerns the conferral of distinguished keynote status upon a senior leader of the RPS in light of the Society's institutional conduct and the public positions of several members of its leadership.

One of the clearest examples of the RPS's institutional conduct is the decision adopted by its Presidium on 20 October 2023 approving the establishment of a regional branch in the so-called "Donetsk People's Republic"4. Donetsk is part of the internationally recognised territory of Ukraine and is under Russian occupation⁵. Through an official decision of its governing body, the RPS extended its organisational structure into occupied Ukrainian territory.

Several members of the Society's senior leadership have publicly supported Russia's war against Ukraine. Two RPS Vice-Presidents, Eduard Galazhinsky and Igor Gaidamashko⁶, signed the Russian Union of Rectors' statement of 4 March 2022, which called for support for Russia, its army and its President following the invasion⁷. Another RPS Vice-President, Yulia Shoigu⁸, is included in sanctions lists maintained by the U.S. Department of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC)⁹ and the Ministry of Finance of Japan¹⁰. The Society also publicly listed Sergei Shoigu, Russia's former Minister of Defence, as an Honorary Member; the page has since been removed but remains preserved by the
Internet Archive¹¹. The International Criminal Court has issued a warrant of arrest for Sergei Shoigu for alleged war crimes and the crime against humanity of inhumane acts¹².

A further example concerns the use of psychological language to justify the war. In 2022, RPS Vice-President Sergei Kandybovich¹³ and Tatiana Razina published an article entitled "Psychological Origins of Ukrainian Nationalism". The article argues that the conflict can be resolved only through military force and advocates approximately fifty years of Russian military and total informational presence in Ukraine,
including the comprehensive "reformatting" of the information consciousness of Ukrainian youth¹⁴.

The Lithuanian Psychological Association and the National Psychological Association of Ukraine previously produced and publicly released a joint video presenting documentary evidence concerning the institutional conduct of the RPS and the actions of members of its leadership. A link to the video is provided in the endnote¹⁵.

Taken together, these facts do not represent a single private opinion or an isolated incident. They reveal a pattern involving a formal decision of the RPS governing body, public support for the invasion by members of its senior leadership, the honouring of a central figure in Russia's military establishment, and a publication by an RPS Vice-President using psychology to justify military domination and the long-term transformation of Ukrainian society.

Granting a keynote platform at a major international congress in Florence to a senior leader of this organisation risks normalising and conferring international prestige upon the RPS despite this documented conduct.

We therefore call upon the International Association of Applied Psychology and the organisers of ICAP 2026 to reconsider this keynote invitation. In our view, granting such a prominent platform is incompatible with the ethical responsibilities of international psychology, respect for human rights, and solidarity with colleagues affected by war and occupation.

We invite psychological associations, academic institutions and individual psychologists throughout the world to support this appeal and to state clearly that senior representatives of organisations whose leadership uses psychology to justify war, occupation and the forced transformation of another society should not be granted prominent international platforms or professional recognition.

Endnotes

1. Russian Psychological Society, Presidium (Alexander Veraksa, Vice-President and Director of the RPS): https://psyrus.ru/rpo/structure/prezidium.php
2. ICAP 2026, “Divisions: Presidential Addresses and Invited Keynotes, Division 14: https://www.icap2026.org/divisional-keynote-speakers/
3. ICAP 2026, official website (Florence, 21–25 July 2026): https://www.icap2026.org/
4. Russian Psychological Society, Presidium decisions, 20 October 2023, item 3:  https://psyrus.ru/upload/iblock/22c/4f0ycdmv9m9ebdx7qso5qikxqmp04yhx/reshenia_rps_20.10.2023_all.pdf
5. United Nations General Assembly Resolution ES-11/4, “Territorial integrity of Ukraine,” 12 October 2022: https://digitallibrary.un.org/record/3990673?ln=en
6. Russian Psychological Society, Presidium (Eduard Galazhinsky and Igor Gaidamashko, Vice-Presidents): https://psyrus.ru/rpo/structure/prezidium.php
7. Russian Union of Rectors, Statement, 4 March 2022: https://rsr-online.ru/news/2022/3/4/obrashenie-rossijskogo-soyuza-rektorov/
8. Russian Psychological Society, Presidium (Yulia Shoigu, Vice-President): https://psyrus.ru/rpo/structure/prezidium.php
9. U.S. Department of the Treasury, Office of Foreign Assets Control, Yuliya Sergeyevna Shoigu sanctions record: https://sanctionssearch.ofac.treas.gov/Details.aspx?id=38657
10. Ministry of Finance of Japan, Ukraine-related sanctions list, 7 October 2022, entry 573: https://www.mof.go.jp/policy/international_policy/gaitame_kawase/gaitame/economic_sanctions/ukraine_kankeisha_20221007.pdf
11. Russian Psychological Society, Honorary Members (Sergei Shoigu), Internet Archive, archived 17 July 2023: https://web.archive.org/web/20230717035227/https://psyrus.ru/psychologists/honorary/otechestvennye-uchenye/
12. International Criminal Court, Situation in Ukraine, warrant of arrest for Sergei Kuzhugetovich Shoigu, issued 24 June 2024: https://www.icc-cpi.int/situations/ukraine
13. Russian Psychological Society, Presidium (Sergei Kandybovich, Vice-President): https://psyrus.ru/rpo/structure/prezidium.php
14. S. L. Kandybovich and T. V. Razina, “Psychological Origins of Ukrainian Nationalism,” World Civilizations, 7(2), 2022: https://wcj.world/PDF/09PSMZ222.pdf
15. Lithuanian Psychological Association and National Psychological Association of Ukraine, joint video concerning the Russian Psychological Society, Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/reel/1230481598804152