An open letter to my Russian subscriber

Cлаба Україні! Героям слаба!

St Andrew’s Church, Kyiv photo Julie Babis

Dear Russian subscriber. This is an open letter to you personally.

Apologies to all my other subscribers and readers, but I need to write this. It is up to you as to whether you choose to continue reading.

I realised this weekend that one of my subscribers is from Russia. The .ru ending to your email address is a giveaway, and the Substack subscriber map confirms it.

Firstly a warning to you specifically: do not take out a paid subscription with me. I will not break sanctions for you. I’m raising the issue with Substack so they are aware that there are people in here from countries on which the rest of the world has imposed sanctions, and that Russia is one of them.

Secondly, слаба Україні! Героям слаба!

I hope you have read my bio. My husband is Ukrainian. I will say this now, I have complete and utter contempt and horror for what you country is doing to my second home. To be honest a part of me is appalled that you have chosen to subscribe to my newsletter. I considered arbitrarily unsubscribing you but I haven’t. Yet.

My first thought is that you could be an agent of the Russian state checking me out. That’s not impossible. I’ve made no secret of my support for Ukraine. And let’s face it your guys have a reputation for sticking noses in on social media, interfering in elections and trying to influence opinions against Ukraine on social media. But is your news telling your that?

I confess to treating Russian troll-outing on other platforms as a bit of a sport in the earlier days of the war your nation is inflicting on mine. If you look closely there are giveaways other than the sentiment subtly expressed, the twisted narrative. Native speaking keyboard warriors never use perfect grammar and spelling, and always split the infinitive. The acronym ‘WTAF’ seemed lost on trolls. And the propensity to stop responding at around 9pm (midnight in Moscow) was a bit of a giveaway.

For the moment I will give you the benefit of the doubt, as you are at least not pretending to be from anywhere other than Russia. I will assume that you are trying to find a way of seeking information and opinions that are suppressed by your state. So I will take this opportunity to share some.

I’ll give you an example of the way your state interferes in Britain. Your nation’s interference with computer networks paralysed the systems of hospitals and primary care trusts in Britain about a year ago. Just in case your news in Russia didn’t report this, I’ll educate you. This action caused people to die. Doctors could not order tests or get the results of tests already ordered. Blood transfusions were delayed frequently because the right blood group was not available where needed. A nephrology consultant from Guys and Thomas’ hospital told me that critically ill patients had life-saving surgery including kidney transplants delayed or cancelled. When an organ is available for transplant from a deceased donor it cannot be kept for a few weeks. If the surgery can’t go ahead, and opportunity for someone else to live is lost.

Incidentally I met this doctor at the funeral of a Russian friend. We were all part of a group of educated, optimistic and thoroughly international young adults in London, confident we could all change the world for the better three decades ago. Katya was appalled by what her country is doing. She hosted Ukrainian refugees in her home, as an act of both defiance and reparation.

Another friend’s 19 year old year old son had a kidney transplant in Guys and St Thomas hospital a matter of weeks before the Russian cyber attack. I’m telling you this because the actions of your state affect real people. It has an impact on real lives. Cyber terrorism has victims. I witnessed that impact, so I am seeing it as my duty to report on it. Just so you know. I trust you will share information among your people.

You need to understand that Russia is loathed here in the UK. I am trying to understand myself that not everyone agrees with the actions of their governments, but it’s hard. That’s why I have not yet unsubscribed you.

But I will tell you what your state did yesterday. Two massive Russian missiles hit the main street in a residential district of the city of Sumy. Mid-morning on Palm Sunday. Hundreds of people, mainly women and children - the menfolk are fighting you guys in a war not of their choosing - were gathering to attend Church. Orthodox and Catholic both, in different churches. When I watched the news last night over 30 civilians were confirmed to be killed. More than 100 more are injured. Some badly. These are not soldiers. Their sons, husbands and fathers are fighting. For the most part, they are only soldiers because your nation invaded ours. The victims here are the women and children at home trying find some normality in a world that has been tipped on its head.

Do you believe in any God, Russian Subscriber? Have you read this far? Were you, or your women-folk attending Church yesterday? When I was in St Petersburg a lifetime ago, my guide took me St Isaak’s Church. There was a service in progress, attended, as a far as I could see solely by women. I asked if it was a mass for women only. My guide responded: “this is Russia. Women have God, men have vodka”. So I think whoever chose to fire those missiles yesterday knew that it would be mostly women and children in the street in Sumy. Think about that. Targetting civilians is an act of terror, and there is nothing glorious about it. It is nothing short of murder. It is a war crime.

So I ask of you and yours to say a prayer for those women and children killed by your government and army yesterday. Ask your God for forgiveness, and ask him to tell you and your community how to oppose the monstrosity of a state that runs your country.

Do you, in Russia, genuinely believe that women and children should die because of the ego of your leader? Do mothers and wives in your country want their sons and husbands sent of to war, for what? You’re not fighting for freedom. Do you enjoy living in a state that is being starved slowly into economic decline? Is that what you want for your children? In trying to subjugate others to a regime they don’t want, Russia is only succeeding in putting its own people in a cage.

I have realised that I am crying as I write this. Tears are running down my face for Serhii and Olena, the friends I lost in Bucha. I am crying that it was a blessing that my friend Viktoriya’s mother Tanya fell and was injured when she was in Germany for Viktoriya’s wedding last year. While Tanya was still in hospital, the building in Zaporizhye were she works took a direct hit from a Russian shell. Tanya’s best friend of many years died with many of her colleagues. I am weeping for Anna, a paediatrician in Mikolayiv, who has had to use her medical skills to treat battle injuries and amputate limbs. For civilians as well as soldiers. Yes, I put that in bold for emphasis. She’s my husband’s oldest friend’s daughter. She studied medicine to save lives, yes, but not from the indiscriminate havoc of war brought to a city.

The people of Ukraine did not choose this.

Your country invaded Ukraine. Your government is doing its damnedest to convince the world - and probably you who live there - that this is somehow Ukraine’s fault.

It is not.

Russia invaded Ukraine.

The sentence ends there. There is no ‘because’, there is no justification. There is only pain and death.

My husband Oleksander grew up speaking Russian. Viktoriya, whose father is no longer with us, whose stepfather suffered a permanent brain injury at the hands of your brethren, asked him to speak at her wedding. He spoke in English. He could not bring himself to speak in Russian , but feels his Ukrainian is not yet up to it.

He has changed the spelling of his name to the Ukrainian spelling. Yes, language is now a weapon. A declaration of identity. A declaration of whose side you are on. I thought about translating this. But I won’t. Read in English or translate it yourself. But I do ask that you share this widely through your network. Your community needs to know what is being done it its name.

Understand one thing, Russian Subscriber: military action does not win hearts and minds. The people of Ukraine are choosing their language, their culture, and closer links with Europe. We will never be Russian. Do I need to write a post about the chapter that is written out of your history books, the suppression of the Ukrainian people by starvation, inflicted on them by Stalin? The Holodnor, as it is called.

Your country is committing war crimes, and if you choose to subscribe to my publication, dear Russian Subscriber, I will make sure that you get the news as Ukraine experiences it. If you don’t like it, you are free to unsubscribe at any time.

Still with me? If you are, there may be hope for you yet.

I don’t think this amounts to reaching out, but I choose not to slam a door just yet.