March Similarities. Yesterday marked exactly 83 years since the end of the “Winter War,” or the Soviet invasion of Finland. It lasted 3 months, 1 week and 6 days, from November 30, 1939 to March 13, 1940. As in the case of Ukraine, the Finnish campaign in Moscow was intended to be a quick operation…
Friday. Today I spent a lot of time with the students, but I failed to do what I had planned to do the day before – ask them if they would flee Latvia if there was a war. I didn’t ask them because they fascinated me with their still unfinished scripts, which date back to…
The 15th day of the war. The fact that Russians hurriedly bought out IKEA, stood in line at McDonald’s, and frantically pulled money out of ATMs shows that they were well informed because/while the state broadcasters were silent about the effects of the sanctions; so people may very well know about the horrors of the…
The 14th day of the war. Russian writer Boris Akunin, who has long lived in exile, warned us not to listen to Putin, because every speech he makes is a special operation. His speeches and those of all others who have gone through the KGB school are not meant to disseminate information, but to conceal…
The 13th day of the war. I was asked to interview a well-known film critic from Moscow who found refuge in Riga with his whole family because he could no longer live in Russia. Riga is once again becoming a center for Russian emigrants, as it was in the 1920s. The conversation lasted quite long…
The 12th day of the war. I was at the meeting of theater creators against Russian aggression at the Russian Embassy, and I said the following: “I would like to give a ray of hope here. Although people are dying and cities are being destroyed in Ukraine, this may also be a very bright time.…
The 9th day of the war. The lie must be so big that you don’t think it’s possible to lie like that. War is peace. Freedom is slavery. Ignorance is strength. Everything is going according to plan. Another Putin speech, another Lavrov speech, white is black, down is up, Ukraine is the aggressor. To confuse…
The 8th day of the war. Today I was wondering what I can really say here other than babble something irrelevant. In addition, in a monologue. But then, in the face of a war that will not end, I alone am left to prattle on. You have to talk, because you don’t know how long…
The 7th day of the war. Chaotic thoughts. What is there to hold on to? Before sleeping, I took another look at the Russian propaganda show, conclusion: The Russians are being prepared for a nuclear war. To a “just.” The way other countries, peoples, cultures and history are talked about here, this is absolutely blatant…
