Alexey Golubev

My dear friend and colleague.

Your text today , dedicated to the award of the satirical “Galosh” to Patriarch Kirill, made me deviate from the rule that I try to follow, namely, not to arrange public disputes with friends on “Echo”.

I am addressing you, being by birth and, I hope, by culture, part of that very Russian people, on whose behalf you suddenly began to declare your love and respect for the patriarch. I do not share many of your assessments of what happened at the ceremony, as well as the public reaction to what happened, so I ask you not to make such generalizations and continue to speak personally for yourself.

But the main thing why I decided to write to you is something else.

Perhaps my imagination is too rich and unhealthy, but it seemed to me that you were ready to approve possible violence against the participants of the sensational award. Or, at least, you bless in advance those who, being blinded by hatred, may decide to do such a crazy act. In my deep conviction, Russian Breiviks, like any others, should not be encouraged...

I sincerely hope that I simply misinterpreted your text, including in the part where you write about our colleague, long associated with Echo, who recently suffered at the hands of a fanatic.

Original