Many Russians also want an end to the war against Ukraine. But how this is to be achieved is rather disturbing. Warns Vladimir Kaminer.
The journalists who interview me about my books usually also want to know what I’m like Russia native author with anti-Russian sentiment can get along in Germany. Will I be discriminated against by Russophobes or considered a divergent? In reality, this discrimination only exists as a fantasy.
Russian-speaking cultural life in Europe has never been so colorful and full; Concerts, plays, exhibitions and book fairs cover Europe in a dense succession. Not least because an untold number of Russian artists, publishers and academics have to leave their homeland and only work abroad. The Russians themselves joke about it, calling it the “Taiwanization of Russian cultural life.” For many of them, Germany became their new home.
To person
Vladimir Kaminer is a writer and columnist. He was born in Moscow in 1967 and has lived in Germany for decades. His best-known works include “Russian disco“Kaminer’s current book”Mother’s Days. Stories about the heroines of everyday life” was published in August 2026.
The locals hardly notice anything about it. The Germans, if we talk about the current state of things, long for a normal, peaceful Russia, like it used to be. On the one hand, they express pity about this new, surprisingly anti-European orientation of Russian politics, but on the other hand, they ask me whether the Russians are not embarrassed about waging this bloodthirsty war. What’s wrong with the Russians? Many people ask that. Do the Russians know what they are doing?
In order to get a clever answer to this, you have to take a closer look at the situation in the country. One thing is clear: fortunately, there are no such things as bloodthirsty peoples. What we have are populations that are confused and lied to by propaganda. The war, which has lasted almost five years and has killed millions, is now getting on the Russians’ nerves: even if you look at the opinions of those surveyed through the clouded glass of state-mandated surveys.
You probably won’t like the answer
You shouldn’t really rely on these surveys. How can one invite the citizens of an unfree country to express their opinions freely when the citizens know full well that they can get into trouble if their opinion does not agree with that of the president? Even well-known people who were visible in public were beaten up and imprisoned for their modestly expressed wishes for peace.
Nevertheless, almost a 90 percent majority responded to the question “If the President announced an end to hostilities now, would you support him?” with an unequivocal “yes”. However, when we dig deeper into how exactly the end of the war should be achieved quickly, it turns out that many paradoxically support this solution: “Drop an atomic bomb so that the mass killings stop and people no longer have to die.”
