I am a citizen of both Russia and the U.S. Now these two states have taken opposite positions on the war in Ukraine. I usually think it's okay to be an "against everyone"-individualist, but this time I make a conscious choice in favor of the United States. And since the United States supports Ukraine, the Ukrainian army, and President Zelensky, I also support them.
I don't like Putin. I oppose censorship, I am for the frequent change of political leadership, for common sense, and for honesty. Putin rigged election results, imprisoned his political opponents, just recently lied that he was not going to attack Ukraine, and refuses to call this war a war. For me, he is an example of the worst politician and a war criminal. Putin shares responsibility for the war in Donbas (2014) with former Ukrainian president Yanukovych, and in 2022, he and his lackeys (including Belarusian president Lukashenko) started a new war in Ukraine.
To protect the Russians in Ukraine, Putin started a war in which thousands of Russian-speaking people on both sides have already died. The Russian soldiers near Kyiv and Kharkiv are occupiers, just as the German soldiers were occupiers near Leningrad and Stalingrad in 1942. The Ukrainian army has no other choice but to fight the foreign invaders on Ukrainian territory. But Putin forced the Russian soldiers to make a choice: refuse to carry out the criminal order or go to kill Ukrainians. If they chose "go to kill", it is logical that they are also killed in response.
Am I ashamed that I live in safe Seattle and do not face such a difficult dilemma? I am. Therefore, I didn’t want to write anything on this topic: I am bad in predicting the future, I don’t have any unique info from the front line, and my past political posts inevitably led to an unproductive discussion. But right now I can't write posts about books or national parks, and many of my readers will not read such posts in the current situation.
I am not ashamed to speak and write in Russian. Russian language and culture did not start this war. Putin did. I hope that the Americans well understood that the internment of Japanese Americans after the attack on Pearl Harbor was a mistake, and no one will ban The Nutcracker or War and Peace. But I decided to write this English version of my post for those who do not read Russian.
The United States and its allies impose sanctions against Russia. The declared goal is to destroy the Russian economy, which sponsors Putin's war machine. But as long as Europe pays billions of euros for Russian gas, refusal to buy Russian sweets and buckwheat will not help. Many sanctions hit primarily those Russian citizens who oppose Putin and these sanctions turned out to be useful for Putin's propagandists. Perhaps the Western world hopes that oligarchs, Chechens, or hipsters will open a second home front against Putin. I believe that the strongest blow to Putin would not be the isolation of Russians, but, on the contrary, a visa-free entry and a simplified permanent residence for programmers, engineers and scientists from Russia. The Putin team has already rushed to keep IT specialists from emigrating from Russia exempting them from taxes and draft.
I've been telling people for years how I got an American green card, and I have a website with petition examples and FAQ about EB-1A and EB2-NIW immigration categories. I am glad that I helped several scientists (and not only scientists) from Russia and other countries to get a green card, but this path is not suitable for everyone. I don't know if people need to urgently flee Russia, if there will be famine and civil war, but I am ready to help those who want to leave until Russia becomes a free pro-Western democracy. For those whom I know personally, I am ready to help financially with buying tickets and paying for hotels if Russian bank cards are blocked. Contact me at andreychemist@gmail.com, we will think and decide what can be done.
My friends post a lot of links to charitable foundations that help Ukraine. I'm going to figure out which are the best organizations to help. The effectiveness of letters to congressmen or protests in American cities is small, but today, for the first time in the United States, I went to a political rally at the Space Needle for Ukraine, against Putin and the war. Please comment if you have any idea what I can do to stop Putin.
My brother and I were going to go to Russia this year, but while Putin is waging his war in Ukraine, it’s not safe for us to go there, and we ourselves don’t want to. Of course, I worry about my relatives and friends in Russia. As long as bloodthirsty Putin is in power, they are all in danger. I want to believe that the tyrant will be defeated, Russia will be free, and I will not be afraid to visit my homeland.
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