[mike_k]

Being in Ukraine, I appreciate such a cencire and public view on this war from a Russian citizen.

I have two major objections, though.

1) Solzhenitsyn & Brodskiy are very anti-soviet and famous guys, but they only go thus far. The first one was still an imperialist (at least in his later years) to a large degree and the second one had example(s) of a very anti-Ukrainian position in his poetry. Not the best characters to mention in the current context. And probably they illustrate a broader problem: it is so deep in the culture (history), that can not be treated as an accident.

2) The Man on top was not born out of a vacuum. Many generations before and during his "rise" share at least some of the responsibility. I don't want to blame the nation or "all the citizens", but too many individuals encouraged that. There was a point, when it was safe to protest, now it is not... but it is still much safer than to be in Mariupol.