Avendo avuto uno scambio di mail con una persona residente a Mosca, ho ritenuto, per la prima volta da quando esiste questo sito, di pubblicare un argomento che esula dall’audio ma che ci riguarda tutti in modo più o meno vicino da più di cinque mesi. Perchè questa scelta? Perchè prima di essere appassionati audio siamo esseri umani e non mi pare sia frequente per un europeo poter sentire l’opinione diretta di un cittadino russo sull’argomento….non un politico, non un giornalista ma un semplice cittadino appassionato di audio e di musica come tutti noi. So che non tutti saranno d’accordo su questa scelta…un sito che si occupa di alta fedeltà deve limitarsi a questo argomento. Mi permetto un’eccezione perchè credo abbia un senso leggerla.
Dear Massimo,
Here I am, and I’m sorry it took me so long. I’ve finally managed to make time to put together some thoughts on what you described as a matter affecting all of us. Very true indeed.
Well, I think if I were to very briefly summarise what I see and feel about the current situation I would put it that way.
- My view is that the military conflict was avoidable and there is diplomacy and trade wars and all that stuff that needs to serve countries as ways of achieving their geopolitical goals.
- The fact that it was not avoided and went the hard way is due to poor diplomacy.
- No-one in their right mind would support actions that lead to human casualties (including by way of collateral damage). These must be avoided at all costs.
- There are historical reasons, and actions and inactions of many sides behind what’s happened. The fact that it’s happened is tragic. Many people who live here in Russia have relatives in Ukraine and the other way round. The wounds brought about by this conflict are too deep for the healing.
- Now that it came to this, my stance is that one who calls for defeat of their country’s army is insane. Equally insane are those who call for nuclear strikes and all that nonsense.
- The events have led, amongst other things, to the fact that Russia, its leadership and people, are being plagued in many parts of the world. I believe that to be an intentionally false premise.
On a more personal note, it took me a few months to somehow master the first shock of hearing the news that it’s begun. I remember finding myself in April or in May saying to people that it felt like Feb 24 was the day before, or maybe sometime the previous week, but not 2 months back – such was the shock that literally days and weeks felt like they were all packed into a very long and a very bad dream.
Also, I work for an international company and obviously the situation created a great deal of uncertainty for the future for me personally – i.e. whether my employer will stay in Russia at all. It’s not closed its business so far but its activities have been very much reduced.
In any case, whilst it’s stress and anxiety caused by uncertainty that we need to manage (and personally, over the two years of the pandemic and the conflict that emerged at the time when I’ve thought – ok, finally things may be about to become “back to normal” again – I’ve had the closest thing I’ve ever had to depression), without a doubt there are many people who are facing much worse things than we do. A friend shared with me the other day a brief video of Brian Eno talking about what’s happening – take a look – https://youtu.be/PNLG65OSYKA – I think it’s very reasonable. Last but not least, the world seems just so screwed up. If you look at what’s happening – from the assassination of Japan’s former prime minister to US Senate speaker’s visit to Taiwan and the rhetoric surrounding it – everything is just so wrong…
I will be interested to know your thoughts on all of this.
Very best wishes to you
Boris
Dear Boris
Your speech is imbued with human sensitivity and common sense and highlights the state of mind of a person who (like many others I imagine) has found himself overwhelmed by events in front of which nothing can do but accept them. I fully agree with what you wrote, perhaps only on point two of your letter I have some doubts: diplomacy or not the attack was widely planned and there would have been anyway … unfortunately I believe that the economic interests of having an outlet on the Black Sea are the real reason for this war but this is my opinion. All wars are always presented to public opinion in the form of either “religious wars” or “wars between different ethnic groups” but if we go beyond the facade we always discover that the real reason for all wars is expansionist and economic. I would like to ask you if I can publish your e-mail on my site: it is not about high fidelity (so it would be off-topic) but it is not common for us to be able to hear the direct opinion of a Moscow resident on this delicate subject. I think that reading your letter may interest many Italians just as it interested me very much.
Very best wishes to you also
Massimo
Thank you, Massimo. Yes, it feels like we (“we” being most of the entire world) have been left with no choice – some of us need to fight, some need to learn to survive, some didn’t have the opportunity to and are already gone, some are in fear of famine and some in fear of death. We need to find workarounds because many things in our day-to-day have changed or disappeared, we need to address the impact of sanctions, travels have become a nuisance (as if covid wasn’t enough)… These are the things that none of us wanted to choose.
You’re of course right in that most conflicts are expansionist in nature and big money will be involved in many of these, one way or another. Politicians tend to choose to “forget” about mere mortals and often turn a blind eye on repercussions of their ill-fated decisions – sometimes for the sake of the “greater good”, sometimes out of sheer greed for power. Yet I think that in the case at hand, the “attack” was just a culmination of decades of poor diplomacy and poor intelligence work – over the years ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union (with a particular landmark being the organised bringing down of the Ukrainian leadership back in 2014). Also, I think it’s NATO in the first instance who continued with this bravado of expanding the influence of the pact (which was originally intended to be a defense organisation). So I agree that there will always be economic reasons but I think it’s only one part of the jigsaw…
Another thing one needs to be very careful about is how information is presented in the media all over the world. You mentioned before that I may have information very different from what you guys may get in Europe and elsewhere. It is true but I also read plenty of English language papers to get a more balanced view. Sadly, I find it to be full of ill-informed propaganda as well. Russia as a whole gets stigmatised and where the so-called cancel culture is all the rage, it is particularly important to be able to tell facts from propaganda. (For example, one thing I despise is how people who’ve fled Russia (unwise decision driven by emotion rather than reason) keep calling for the defeat of the Russian army – they’re all over the place in the Western media.) This is pathetic.
I realise this may be an unpopular point of view on these matters to be vocal about in Europe but I believe it’s important that we’re having a candid discussion.
I don’t mind you sharing my off-topic messages (and will also send you something on the subject of hi-fi a little later).
All my best,
Boris
>Yet I think that in the case at hand, the “attack” was just a culmination of decades of poor diplomacy and poor intelligence work – over the years ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union (with a particular landmark being the organised bringing down of the Ukrainian leadership back in 2014). Also, I think it’s NATO in the first instance who continued with this bravado of expanding the influence of the pact (which was originally intended to be a defense organisation). So I agree that there will always be economic reasons but I think it’s only one part of the jigsaw… <
Surely and Russia could have its valid reasons to assert from the diplomatic point of view …. but when a country attacks another country and kills people, the reasons are lost all in an instant.
This is my point of view.
>Another thing one needs to be very careful about is how information is presented in the media all over the world. You mentioned before that I may have information very different from what you guys may get in Europe and elsewhere. It is true but I also read plenty of English language papers to get a more balanced view. Sadly, I find it to be full of ill-informed propaganda as well. Russia as a whole gets stigmatised and where the so-called cancel culture is all the rage, it is particularly important to be able to tell facts from propaganda. (For example, one thing I despise is how people who’ve fled Russia (unwise decision driven by emotion rather than reason) keep calling for the defeat of the Russian army – they’re all over the place in the Western media.) This is pathetic. <
What do you intend for “cancel culture”….can you give an example?
Probably those who have seen that a country has been attacked have fled from Russia because felt closer to the people who are bombed … because there is no sense in all this (if not the economic one). I agree that NATO is increasingly showing its bravado but it was not NATO that attacked Russia: it is one thing to be afraid of being attacked, it is another thing to actually do it. If there are countries that like Finland and Sweden joined NATO precisely as a result of this war, it is because outside the Russian borders the danger of being attacked is perceived precisely by the actions of the Russian president. Then I understand that each of us loves our country and would like to see it led by a democratic force but unfortunately not everyone has this luck and there are those who run away for this. It should be noted that it is always the small fish that must fear the big one (see Taiwan with China also ..) .. between big fish you never get attached because you understand the common devastating consequences. For the avoidance of doubt, the Americans have also attacked small fish on several occasions, citing all possible excuses to motivate such attacks but …. always economic reasons at the base …. always.
This is my umble opinion Boris
Massimo
Good evening Massimo, see more thoughts below…
Massimo Ambrosini <[email protected]> wrote:
Surely and Russia could have its valid reasons to assert from the diplomatic point of view …. but when a country attacks another country and kills people, the reasons are lost all in an instant.
This is my point of view.Absolutely. That is why I’d said it’s tragic that it’s come to this. I would never have believed it would, not in the 21st century. At this point, however, all there is left for us is hope for cease fire and deescalation at the soonest.
Massimo Ambrosini <[email protected]> wrote:
What do you intend for “cancel culture”….can you give an example?“Cancel” all and everything that has any Russian nexus. Ban Russians from getting EU visas, ban Russian literature in the universities, impose sanctions that mostly worsen the lives of ordinary people…
Massimo Ambrosini <[email protected]> wrote:
It should be noted that it is always the small fish that must fear the big one (see Taiwan with China also ..) .. between big fish you never get attached because you understand the common devastating consequences. For the avoidance of doubt, the Americans have also attacked small fish on several occasions, citing all possible excuses to motivate such attacks but …. always economic reasons at the base …. always.Yes, but I’m not at all sure that in the case at hand, Ukraine is the “classic” small fish. I wouldn’t go too much into the theory of “proxy wars” but I have some doubts…
It may be viewed as one of those excuses Russia would offer to justify the attack but do you know about the Donbas region of Ukraine? Towns of Donetsk and Lugansk in particular – mostly Russian speaking – those who are called separatist these days. I personally know people who have been there all these years – they are no better and no worse than those who are dying now under fire but no-one seems to have risen their voice back then to aid those people who were, and continue to be, under fire, hide in cellars and so on. We may rave on about the attack of 2022 but how come Europe and others have never actually done much to help resolve the local crisis there that’s been on and off since 2014? The Minsk agreements were actually never enforced in full albeit “guaranteed” by France and Germany amongst others. Whatever the political turmoil etc., it’s people’s lives that matter and you know what, no surprise here – most politicians don’t seem to give a damn about that.
I do appreciate your outlining your views with dignity and calm, as always, Massimo. This is what civilised people do. I would love for peace to be reinstated and I would be so happy if we – ordinary Russians – are not seen as evil-doers by the people of Europe…
My best
Boris
>It may be viewed as one of those excuses Russia would offer to justify the attack but do you know about the Donbas region of Ukraine? Towns of Donetsk and Lugansk in particular – mostly Russian speaking – those who are called separatist these days. I personally know people who have been there all these years – they are no better and no worse than those who are dying now under fire but no-one seems to have risen their voice back then to aid those people who were, and continue to be, under fire, hide in cellars and so on. We may rave on about the attack of 2022 but how come Europe and others have never actually done much to help resolve the local crisis there that’s been on and off since 2014? The Minsk agreements were actually never enforced in full albeit “guaranteed” by France and Germany amongst others. Whatever the political turmoil etc., it’s people’s lives that matter and you know what, no surprise here – most politicians don’t seem to give a damn about that.
I do appreciate your outlining your views with dignity and calm, as always, Massimo. This is what civilised people do. I would love for peace to be reinstated and I would be so happy if we – ordinary Russians – are not seen as evil-doers by the people of Europe… <
I know this and I know how European and American diplomacy have unfortunately neglected the requests of Russian diplomacy … in the face of these, Russian diplomacy could have reacted by applying sanctions to Europe and to american company in Russia (a large part of Europe depends on Russian gas and oil …) in order to force compliance and enforcement of the agreements …. the arms solution must was the last to be undertaken by the Russian government if its objective was to be within a boundary of justice. The European sanctions that are now being applied and that harm both Europe as a whole and the Russian population are the only way Europe has to protest without widening the conflict. Unfortunately, your president wanted this conflict Boris … he wanted it and had been planning it for some time. And personally I am close to people like you who suffer discrimination from Europe simply for being Russian. The exclusion of Russian tennis players from wimbledon was something unspeakable and deeply unfair. The sport and the culture regards the common persons and not the politic power…
With best regards
Massimo