The American Physical Society (APS) has announced that Russian academic and government research institutions may request emergency assistance for online access to APS journals. APS's actions are designed to blunt the adverse impact of the Open Society Institute's recent announcement that it was withdrawing support for the distribution of physics journals in Russia. Journals included in the APS emergency programme are electronic versions of Physical A-E, Physical Review Letters, Physical Review Online Archives (PROLA), Reviews of Modern Physics, and Physical Review Special Topics - Accelerators and Beams. Requests for assistance may be submitted via fax (+1 310 209 0844) or e-mail (hicks@aps.org).