, Columnist
Russia’s Beauty and Brutality Remain an Enigma to the West
Putin’s war on Ukraine is part of a long tradition of Russians being led astray by terrible rulers.
Old tsar, meet the new tsar.
Photographer:Alexey Druzhinin/AFP/Getty Images
This article is for subscribers only.
The most famous words ever written about the nation of President Vladimir Putin were those of Winston Churchill in October 1939: “I cannot forecast to you the action of Russia. It is a riddle wrapped in a mystery inside an enigma.”
The world shares an awe for the grandeur of that vast country, its mountains, great rivers and cities, remote villages and frozen wastelands. Its culture, the music of Tchaikovsky and Prokoviev, the poetry of Pushkin and prose of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky, have inspired generations of literate people of many nations.