A Russian Interlude…

From time to time, I find myself pausing, and today feels like a fleeting pause in the unfolding story.

Since the war in Europe first flared in February 2014, the world has looked on, torn between fascination and disbelief. Unlike other modern conflicts, the Ukraine-Russia war has dragged on for twelve unyielding years. Strangely, the world seems content to watch, as if powerless or unwilling to stop the relentless struggle between these two nations.

I often wonder what drives modern Russia to pour such power and fortune into seizing a sliver of European land. Theories abound, but the enigma endures. This is a nation that has given the world brilliance, amassing 28 Nobel Prizes across science, literature, peace, and economics. Over 540 Russian athletes have claimed Olympic medals. Yet a deeper question rises to the surface: forged by revolutions, adversity, and dramatic change, and rooted in ancient heritage and immense natural resources, what compels Russia to fix its gaze so intently on its smaller neighbor?

Perhaps Russia’s greatest riddle is not its people, but the vastness of its land. Stretching across 11 time zones, it claims more hours in a day than any other country. Russia alone dwarfs the USA and India, covering 17.1 million square kilometres—making it more than five times the size of India and nearly twice the size of the USA. Russia endures some of the planet’s wildest extremes: blistering heat in the south, where Astrakhan and Dagestan sizzle above 45 degrees, and bone-chilling cold in Siberia’s Yakutia, where Oymyakon shivers at minus 67.7, the coldest inhabited place on Earth. Yet, Russians have called these lands home for generations. 

Three revolutions, two world wars, and the loss of countless lives to famine and hunger—Russia has weathered a turbulent history. Now, once more, she finds herself in the dock, or perhaps seated at her defence table, flanked by her unlikely allies.

This year, I peer into Russia with renewed curiosity. What stirs in the mind of this nation? As a child, I was captivated by inexpensive USSR publications that filled my world with stories and images. Even now, the scent and colours of those pages awaken something vivid within me. Childhood, once lost, lingers like a dream we long to inhabit forever.

Today I find myself wandering through enigmatic genius of Boris Pasternak in
'Dr. Zhivago'.  Pasternak revelled in Russia’s landscapes, seasons, and cultural spirit, even as he faced political repression for his work. His life was a quest to weave his deep love for his homeland and his national identity into his character, reflecting the resilience and beauty of a sprawling land and its people. "I am in love with my country, with her earth, with the way she turns her seasons, with the way she sings her songs," said Pasternak. That is a deep breath in patriotism. 

Pasternak saw wars as sometimes unavoidable, though sad. He is quoted : No single man makes history. History cannot be seen, just as one cannot see grass growing. Wars and revolutions, kings and Robespierres, are history's organic agents, its yeast.

War has always shadowed humanity's path. How often have its echoes brushed against our own lives, near or far? The ancient tale of the Peloponnesian War reveals the minds and struggles of the Greeks. It reshaped Greek politics, weakened both city-states (democratic Athens against militaristic Sparta), and paved the way for Macedonian dominance under Philip II and Alexander the Great. 

The unfolding stories of conflict in our era will shape which “kings and Robespierres are history’s organic agents, its yeast.”  

Let’s keep reading!

FINE