I had an absolute ball in Kyiv four years ago.
Partying in Shevchenko Park, drinking in cool basement bars, marvelling at the glorious architecture and mixing with friendly locals who were chuffed to be hosting a Champions League Final was an unforgettable experience.
To see this once-vibrant city and its proud people under siege today is heartbreaking. Looking at footage of deserted streets so recently brimming with energy and optimism elicits deep anger towards Russia.
Or rather the bent KGB mafia that runs that country. Not its people.
Two months after visiting Kyiv I covered the World Cup in Russia and was taken aback by the hospitality of people I thought would want to spit on the British due to our governments being at each other’s throat following the Salisbury poisonings. But I was wrong. They were brilliant.
I watched Russia’s quarter-final clash with Croatia, as the only foreigner, in a bar in a rough area of Samara and was plied with free vodka throughout. When defeat ended their World Cup dream, locals hugged me and vowed to support England in the semi-finals.
I spoke to a lot of the young, bilingual volunteers in the fan zones who were clued-up on British football teams, our cities, music and culture. Many said they wanted to come here and study.
They are the kind of Russians protesting openly about Putin’s despicable war, or who would be if they weren’t afraid of being beaten or jailed. We shouldn’t confuse people with despots.
And they are the ones who will eventually topple their deluded dictator. Russia’s young people aren’t interested in what territory the Soviet empire held before they were born. They have tasted a form of democracy and liberalism, and see that as their future. They want to belong to the rest of the world.
It will hit young Russians hard that they have become global sporting pariahs, their country banned from participating in competitions like the Champions League and World Cup.
The Kremlin may be delighted that music acts like Iggy Pop, Franz Ferdinand, The Killers, Green Day, Nick Cave and Yungblud have pulled out of upcoming concerts and that universities in the West are cutting exchange programmes.
They may see it as some anti-capitalist victory that Hollywood has halted all film releases in Russia, Netflix has paused all projects there, Apple has pulled its iPhones, Nike ceased online sales, Asos suspended operations and the big fashion labels are considering following suit.
But most Russians won’t. And most young Russians won’t accept it. Sergey Faldin, a Russian writer based in Georgia, blogged this week about the “huge divide” in opinions between those like him who were born in the 90s, and those who lived under Soviet rule.
Many older Russians swallow Putin’s lies, he wrote, but the younger ones see through them. He concluded that “when the money runs out, so will Putin’s clock. And we, the new generation of Russians, will be waiting”.
Putin will be beaten not by superyachts being taken off his cronies but by football, music, cinema, fashion and the chance to travel and be educated abroad being taken off those who won’t accept their freedoms being crushed.
Eventually, it will be the younger generation who bring the old guard down. For everyone’s sake that can’t come soon enough.
