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One of Russian's foremost contemporary authors is speaking out against the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Mikhail Shishkin, whose books have won the prestigious Russian Booker Prize and the Big Book Award, spoke to U.K.'s Channel 4 about his opposition to the invasion. He has been frequently critical of Russian President Vladimir Putin, having opposed the annexation of Crimea in 2014 and writing an open letter in The Guardian detailing the importance of Russian-Ukrainian solidarity. In his Channel 4 interview, he further expressed his views.
"I feel horrible," Shishkin said, "because Russian soldiers are destroying cities and killing people and children, and I'm Russian, So, in my name, such horrible crimes are committed."
He went on to say, "We have very complicated history. And you see in Russia, we didn't have the Destalinization. We didn't have the Nuremberg trials for the Communist Party. And as a result, we have now a new dictatorship. And the nature of dictatorship is to have enemies and to have war. Now we are all in this war. How can we stop this? We need this Deputinization, we must have this national recognition of guilt."
Although Shishkin does not currently reside in Russia, he told Channel 4 that he still keeps in touch with friends and family who do. He gave a stark insight into how Russians are coping under the increased crackdowns on dissent and protests.
"It's the sense of the end of the world, just apocalyptical," said Shishkin. "In regarding to Russians, it will, after this war, be in ruin. [Economic] ruin, but first of all, mental ruin. How exactly will Putin leave us? No idea. I think nobody knows, but this war will bring the Putin solution to the end."
Although he spoke critically of Putin, the president was not the only target of his ire. He also condemned efforts by Western countries to ban Russian media of all kinds, not just ones that promote content made by the Kremlin.
"I think if a person supports Putin, if they support Putin's regime, it means they support this war, and a boycott [of these people] is not enough," explained Shishkin.
"But if some people appeal to boycott [Alexander] Pushkin, [Leo] Tolstoy, the theater pieces of [Anton] Chekhov, the music of [Dmitri] Shostakovich," the author continued, "it is absolutely stupidness, and Putin's propaganda is just waiting for this, so people who want to boycott Russian language and Russian culture, they work for Putin's propaganda."
This interview was not the first time that Shishkin had expressed anger toward Putin and disapproval of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He recently wrote an opinion piece for The Guardian saying that Putin is the reason he feels afraid to return to his home country.
"The regime's crime is also that the stain of disgrace has fallen on the entire country," wrote Shishkin in his essay. "Now Russia is associated not with Russian literature and music but with children under bombardment. Putin's crime is that he has poisoned people with hate. Putin will go away, but the pain and hate may linger in people's souls for a long time."
Update at 3/31/22, 5:30 p.m. ET: This story has been updated with additional information.
