Oh nope, in things concerning Russia and Ukraine I am, fortunately, an interested observer of war, not a participant or victim. I left Russia that I count as my homeland long ago. Neither Putin nor Zelensky charm me, on the contrary, I deem them clinical, arrogant liars and manipulators. However, my cousin once removed escaped Mariupol siege. My heart is often wounded because of what is happening in the EU and on its borders; being of mixed ethnicity, predominantly Russian, and fluent in main Slavic languages, that is rare mix here on Medium, I try to maintain position equally critical to blunders, atrocities, and quirks of all main actors, while avoiding simplistic and manichaean lines of thought that brought this conflict together with all the ongoing Cold War 2.0 to inhibition phase, detrimental for Europe. I think the complexity of my position is clear: feet of clay are no better than hearts of claymore.

Consider me closer to Goldstone, Nefedov, Lankov, Molodiakov, Kissinger, Mearsheimer, and quarantine (not COVID per se) skeptics, than to Snyder, Applebaum, Sikorski, Fukuyama, Inozemtsev, Guriev, Trofimov, and quarantine cheerleaders. While in matters (astro)physical I would more eagerly support folks like Penrose, Magueijo, Zloshchastiev, Moffat, Linde, Hossenfelder, McCulloch, Milgrom, or Verlinde.