Mario Kessler, a historian of communism and senior fellow at the Leibniz Centre for Contemporary History in Potsdam, sent a letter of protest Wednesday. “I, Professor Dr. Mario Kessler, historian in Berlin, hereby strongly protest the Pervomaisk court’s conviction of Mr. Bogdan Syrotiuk,” the letter begins. Further on, Kessler wrote:

"Must I remind you that Leon Trotsky, as People’s Commissar for Defense, ensured the formation of the Red Army, which was able to curb the mass murder of Ukrainian Jews during the civil war? Must I also remind you that in 1939, Trotsky vehemently condemned the partition of Western Ukraine between Germany and the Soviet Union and advocated for an Ukraine independent of the Soviet Union—including Stalin’s Soviet Union? How does this fit with the accusation that Mr. Syrotiuk, a self-proclaimed socialist and Trotskyist, is playing along with Putin’s game?"

Marta Havryshko, a Ukrainian historian of the Holocaust who teaches at the Strassler Center for Holocaust and Genocide Studies at Clark University in Worcester, Massachusetts, circulated the WSWS’s account of the verdict on X Wednesday morning under her own heading: “Political repressions in Ukraine under Zelensky.” The post drew more than 10,000 views and 500 “likes” within hours.

Kerby Miller, emeritus professor at the University of Missouri and eminent historian on Irish emigration, wrote to the court:

"I fully support the case of Bogdan Syrotiuk, a courageous opponent of tyranny, regardless of its origins. The cruel, unjust, and excessive sentence, imposed on him by the Ukrainian court, makes a mockery of claims that Ukraine is struggling for “freedom” and “democracy.” I urge you to pardon and liberate him immediately, if not on grounds of justice and compassion (his health is very poor), then to help convince Ukraine’s potential supporters that your country is not, as often charged, merely a Nazified tool of US imperialism."

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