For me, it’s as if the world is now divided into two eras: before Feb 25th when Russia invaded Ukraine, and everything that has happened since. I am repulsed in every possible way at what I’ve witnessed and been exposed to involving Russia’s war against Ukraine. I feel loathing for those who rule Russia and those in Russian society who choose to uncritically believe the lies the Kremlin spins to justify this senseless slaughter. And I am also intensely conflicted about the four years I spent in Moscow. The theme of practically every item Corinne Seminoff and I filed from our CBC bureau in some way turned on the struggle within Russian society about what kind of country was going to emerge from Putinism. Would it be a Russified-version of Eastern Europe as many of our Russian acquaintances hoped for ? That kind of Russia would still have be angrier and more arrogant than many westerners would find comfortable, but it would nonetheless have been punctuated by civil society leaders who believed in the rule of law, freedom of expression and a belief that life would continue to improve. Instead, on Feb 25th, Russia turned the other way, and went backwards. Back to totalitarianism; back to deceit; back to chauvinism and now even back to the worst genocidal tendencies we saw during Stalin’s era. I am filled with dismay that more Russians have not seen through the propaganda spun by the country’s leadership. I’m dismayed that so few Russian elites have spoken out against the carnage. And I’m dismayed that a country that could have chosen to be truly “Great” instead made a conscious choice to support evil. I’m writing this from Lviv, Ukraine. Since the beginning of February, I have spent more than a month in Ukraine and will spend several more weeks here before returning to London. It’s brutal. I’m angry. But I’m resolved to do the best job we can on our assignments here to ensure the Kremlin propagandists don’t get their way and keep the ugly truth about Putin’s war hidden.
