Commentary: While the suffering of my Ukrainian friends is clearly visible, I fear that the silence of my former Russian friends may be hiding private tortures of another kind.
Ukrainians greet Western-leaning opposition leader Viktor Yushchenko in Independence Square on Nov. 22, 2004, during an Orange Revolution rally in Kyiv.
My fascination with Russia dates to my teen years when I became an ardent fan of the great Russian novelists including Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Ivan Turgenev and Mikhail Bulgakov. Though I began traveling in Eastern Europe in the 1980s, it seemed an impossible dream I would ever get into Russia or other parts of the Soviet Union.
For years, I stayed in touch with many of my former Russian houseguests through email and social media. Several of my friends warmly received me when I made a second trip to Russia in 2005. The passage of 13 years had allowed for a startling economic transformation of Moscow and St. Petersburg; both had shed their gray Soviet pasts to become vibrant, modern European cities. It filled me with hope for the country’s future.
During a pleasant afternoon visit to a Moscow park, my conversation with Shamil turned to Ukraine’s recent Orange Revolution when massive Ukrainian demonstrations upended Moscow-backed political corruption and domination. Soon, a sizable gathering of curious eavesdroppers joined in the conversation, largely expressing delight at Ukrainians’ moxie at pushing back against their would-be oppressors.
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