Dear Club Chair, Secretary / Committee,
Please would you consider circulating this letter to your club members. A poster is also attached for distribution and display.
Many will only recently be aware of the RSGB policy change readmitting Russian and Belarusian stations into RSGB Contests after reading the October 2026 RadCom (p.6 and p.89).
As Ukraine faces another brutal winter, with Russia intensifying its attacks, we believe that lifting the RSGB’s restrictions now sends exactly the wrong message.
When Ukrainians need to see that their friends stand with them not just in words but in actions, restoring Russian participation in RSGB contests risks looking like a gift to Russia and a blow to Ukraine at precisely the moment when solidarity matters most.
If we can secure the required total of 300 RSGB Member signatures an EGM can be triggered in accordance with RSGB Article 4.
Our sincere thanks to everyone who has supported us so far… (Current signatures are ~250).
Please distribute this letter widely to all RSGB Members.
Kind regards,
Tim Fern G4LOH
Richard Staples G4HGI
Support for Ukraine campaign team.
Search Change.Org + RSGB
THE ISSUE:
On March 4th 2022, following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the RSGB introduced restrictions preventing Russian and Belarusian stations from entering RSGB contests, stating:
“The Russian Federation and their military have crossed a line and the RSGB cannot in this instance remain neutral.”
Recently, the RSGB announced that these restrictions will be lifted from January 1st 2027.
We believe that this removal of sanctions is premature.
The question today is not whether the RSGB’s decision in March 2022 was right or wrong. That decision was made. The question now is whether, while the war continues, is this the right time to reverse it?
We cannot see how the circumstances which led the RSGB to impose the restrictions have changed in a way that justifies lifting them now.
Russia’s invasion has not ended. Ukraine remains engaged in a devastating war for its survival and the wider security threat to Europe remains.
In March 2022, there was widespread expectation of a rapid Russian victory, the installation of a new regime in Kyiv, then further Russian territorial annexations …powered by the combined resources of both nations. It is important to remember that this risk of a wider confrontation between nuclear-armed Russia and NATO was part of the context in which the RSGB Board introduced the restrictions.
The fact that Ukraine is resisting does not mean that the underlying threat has disappeared.
If the RSGB now feel that the circumstances which led them to conclude in 2022, that Russia had “crossed a line” have now changed sufficiently to justify reversing that decision, where is the evidence for that?
The RSGB has referred to the need for consistency and to the principle that amateur radio should promote friendship, cooperation and goodwill across national boundaries. We agree that these are important principles.
But consistency does not necessarily mean returning to the status quo while the circumstances which caused the original decision remain.
The RSGB has also referred to the difficulty of applying its policy consistently when considering the other conflicts which have arisen since 2022. We do not believe that this addresses the basis for the original decision. The subsequent course of the war in Ukraine was unknown on March 4th 2022 and therefore could not have formed part of the justification for introducing the restrictions. Comparisons with conflicts that have arisen since do not alter the circumstances or reasoning that applied when the original decision was made.
The consistency the Board seeks would, in our view, be best achieved by maintaining the principle established by the 2022 Board decision: recognising the high bar that was set then and explaining why other conflicts have not reached that same threshold.
Maintaining the restrictions until the war ends would not establish a general principle that amateur radio should become involved in every conflict in the world.
The war in Ukraine is an exceptional event: a major European war involving a nuclear-armed state, with the potential for escalation into direct confrontation between nuclear powers and with consequences for the security of the whole of Europe. It would therefore be entirely reasonable for the RSGB to treat this situation differently from other international disputes.
Many UK amateurs (including ourselves) have Russian radio friends and those personal relationships remain valuable as bonds between societies. Maintaining a sporting restriction does not require us to abandon those friendships. Our campaign only concerns participation in competitive RSGB events.
Why does a contest restriction matter?
Sanctions on international sports are widely used during major geopolitical disputes because participation in international competition is a privilege. These symbolic measures are actions of solidarity important for morale and they help maintain pressure on rogue states.
The RSGB itself recognised the exceptional circumstances in 2022 when it departed from its normal position that amateur radio should remain neutral.
It is also of concern that amateur radio might be used politically as part of Russia’s wider projection of influence. For example, the use of Russian callsigns and amateur-radio activity associated with occupied Ukrainian territory can appear to normalise Russia’s claim over territory that Ukraine and the international community regard as Ukrainian.
Whatever the individual operator’s intentions, amateur radio does not exist entirely outside the geopolitical environment in which it operates.
The British Government has imposed extensive sanctions on Russia since 2022, and those sanctions have not simply been abandoned because the war has lasted longer than originally expected, nor because other conflicts have subsequently started.
Russia has repeatedly sought the removal or easing of international sanctions, demonstrating that such measures are not regarded as irrelevant by the Russian government.
We believe that amateur radio contest sanctions should be viewed in this wider context.
Why now?
The timing of the RSGB’s decision is particularly unfortunate.
After more than four years of war, Ukraine is entering another difficult winter. Ukrainian radio amateurs need their friends to demonstrate support not simply through words, but through actions.
Lifting the restrictions on Russia now, while the war continues, risks sending exactly the wrong message.
RSGB Members should have their say
The RSGB is a membership organisation. The Board’s own recent strategic update describes its membership as the Society’s “lifeblood”.
Giving Members the opportunity to debate and vote on this particular decision seems entirely appropriate.
We are lifelong RSGB Members and both RSGB volunteers ourselves, we fully support the RSGB Board on all other matters. Our campaign concerns only this decision.
Give RSGB Members a vote at an EGM
We are collecting the required signatures to requisition an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) under Article 4 of the RSGB Articles of Association. If the required 300 qualifying Members support the requisition, Members would then have the opportunity to debate and vote on the proposed resolution.
The public petition is available, search Change.org + RSGB, please don’t forget to click the confirmation email they send.
Alternatively, RSGB Members can simply send the following statement privately to G4LOH at timjfern@gmail.com:
“I am a member of the RSGB and I wish to request the Board to hold an Extraordinary General Meeting (EGM) under Article 4 to discuss prohibiting Russian stations from entering RSGB Contests, and further, to consider the resolution: ‘To require the Board to prohibit all Russian Stations from entering all RSGB Contests.’”
Thank you for taking the time to read this and for anything your club/society can do to help make RSGB Members aware of the issue.
Further information:
Richard Staples G4HGI
Tim Fern G4LOH
QTHR on QRZ.com
timjfern@gmail.com
This is a one-off, non-commercial email to UK amateur-radio clubs about this initiative.