Russia has violated international law and humans rights by invading Ukraine and yet the South African government refuses to officially condemn the invasion. The UN General Assembly's resolution "deploring" the Russian aggression was supported by 141 countries and yet South Africa remained silent and abstained from the vote. The day after Russia invaded Ukraine, our Defence Minister even attended a cocktail function at the home of the Russian ambassador to South Africa. We live in a country that proclaims to hold democracy and freedom as sacred. These are values that Nelson Mandela and others spent their lives fighting for and they looked to the rest of the world to support them in their fight. And yet we now find our ANC-lead government refusing to stand up for these values when are being threatened in another country. This is shameful behavior and we, as South African citizens, are signing this to signal that we do not agree to this cowardly response by our government. We ask them to do the right thing and join the majority of countries in the world in condemning the violent invasion of Ukraine.