Where my people, unfortunately, are. The Russian intelligentsia does not want to consider himself involved in the tragedy

The Russian authorities prohibit the use of the word “war” in relation to the “special military operation of the Armed Forces of the Russian Federation in Ukraine”. ⁠ We are forced to obey this requirement. We apologize to the readers.

Russian culture is now “canceled” around the world - Chekhov’s plays are deleted from the repertoire, replace Tchaikovsky’s symphony in concerts for other opuses, break contracts with Russian artists and directors, Russian cinema was thrown out from all international festivals.

For the most part, the Russian intellectual is dissatisfied. “This is a war against Russian culture,” he concludes. He is worried about the fate of Europe, which decided to do without great Russian culture. In his view, the best world minds were brought up on Tolstoy and Dostoevsky. For him, the words “cancellation of Russian culture” sound worse than a nuclear explosion. It seems to him that they are going to cancel Russian culture, forever, generally forget about it. To say that the world will temporarily do without Russian culture is to doom itself to contempt and hatred among intellectuals. Intellectuals know that they are not to blame for *****, they have nothing to do with it.

The main question in intellectual circles today is no, not "who is to blame?" or "What to do?" -But "what have I to do with it?"

No, and not under an alien firmament,

And not under the protection of alien wing,

- I was then with my people,

Where my people, unfortunately, was

- wrote Anna Akhmatova. Today we do not want to be with the “my” people - we are even annoyed by hints of our belonging to those 140 million that Putin is supported by a tiny deduction, they see Ukraine to a fascist country and “can repeat”.

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