On Sunday 18 October in Lviv, Ukraine, a group of nearly twenty mostly masked men attacked Vladyslav Starodubtsev – a veteran of the Russo-Ukrainian war, historian of the socialist and labour movements in Ukraine, TRACK Ukraine ambassador, and curator of the Veterans’ Programme at Lviv's Institute for Documentation and Exchange (INDEX). The attack was intended to disrupt Vladyslav’s lecture, "Left-wing Lviv: A Brief History of a Long-standing Tradition." 

Vladyslav Starodubtsev signed a one-year contract with the Armed Forces of Ukraine at the age of 22 and left the service in April 2026. In autumn 2026, he joined INDEX, where he coordinates the Veterans’ Programme and the Fellowship Programme for Active Servicemembers of the Ukrainian Defence Forces. These programmes are designed to preserve the testimonies of Ukraine’s defenders and support their documentary projects in the fields of culture and the humanities. 

We, the undersigned, consider the attack on Starodubtsev an attack on Ukrainian civil society, whose values—including freedom of speech and pluralism of opinion—are upheld not only by the majority of Ukrainians but by democratic institutions around the world.

We condemn the attackers and demand that Lviv police fully investigate this crime and bring the attackers to justice.

We call for an immediate response from Lviv city authorities, who are obliged to counter politically motivated violence on the city’s streets and to defend the principles essential to the functioning of an open society. We call on them to publicly denounce the violent extremism that fosters an environment conducive to such attacks. It is vital for city officials to work with community leaders and educational institutions to promote tolerance, understanding, and peace across the socio-political spectrum. 

The brutal assault of a scholar and Ukrainian military veteran is a grave injustice that must not go unpunished.