Evgeny Kissin: History requires us to help Ukraine win this war

Evgeny Kissin: History requires us to help Ukraine win this war

News

norman lebrecht

April 21, 2022

The Russian-born pianist, now living in Prague, has issued a voluminous statement on the west’s failures to contain the aggressive intentions of Putin’s regime.

I must say that it became a grave disappointment for me when I realized a number of years ago that the Western principles, the Western ideals and the Western international politics are not the same thing; that most Western politicians for dozens of years had been betraying their own ideals and principles. Another striking example of this is that since the democratic State of Israel was created, opportunist Western politicians have been forcing their natural ally to make concessions to her anti–democratic enemies who have always been determined to destroy her.

Now I can only say to them: if you don’t do everything to help the brave Ukrainian people to win this war, to drive the aggressors and murderers out of their country, history will never forgive you.

Full statement here.

Comments

  • Andrew says:

    So, the “democratic State of Israel” can be compared with the “democratic” country of Ukraine? Thanks for clarifying the Khazarian connection, Evgeny.

    • M2N2K says:

      Compared to Ukraine’s eastern and northern neighbors, as well as to just about all of Israel’s neighbors, those two countries are indeed highly democratic and therefore have much in common, in addition to being probably the only ones in the entire world having Jewish leaders.

    • Sue Sonata Form says:

      He meant geo-politically. Of course!!!

    • Mind your head says:

      1) I think he is Mr Kissin for you
      2) You are writing nonsense

  • Akutagawa says:

    What’s this nonsense with “Russian-born”? He’s not Russian-born, he’s Russian. Would you have described Rattle as an English-born conductor when he was resident in Berlin?

    • Annabelle Weidenfeld says:

      To describe Mr Kissin as “Russian born” is absolutely correct and he himself vehemently refutes being referred to as Russian in any publicity, concert announcements, or programs. The facts are that he left Russia for good in 1991 with his family at the age of 20. He is the proud holder of an Israeli passport and a United Kingdom passport and presently lives in Prague. You can easily see that your Rattle comparison is ludicrous.

      • M2N2K says:

        You are right, AW, and besides: Jews who were born and raised in Soviet Russia never felt or considered themselves “Russian”, because the entire country and its population did not call them or treated them as Russian – their “nationality” was even identified in their official passports as “Jewish”. So, to call Evgeny Kissin and people like him “Russian-born” is factually and in all other ways accurate and is therefore perfectly fine.

  • M2N2K says:

    Well said, Evgeny.

  • Ms.Melody says:

    Bravo maestro! Not only a great musician, but , more importantly, a Mench.

  • Margaret Koscielny says:

    This was an ecellent article about a remarkable artist. Kissim is a moral musician. There shold be more people such as he.

  • Music fan says:

    The full quote at the link contains much more interesting information than that displayed here. Kissin is obviously very well read. But he misses the point that the problem is not and never was Communism, it was and remains Russian Imperialism.

  • Hayne says:

    Kissin doesn’t realized this is a war between US/NATO and
    Russia. Ukraine is the place where it is being fought. It could
    easily have been avoided but wasn’t allowed to by the West.
    He has some good points in his diatribe but then puts in some shocking statements in support of the ethnic cleansing of Sudetenland Germans and Silesians. http://www.revisionist.net/sudeten-genocide.html
    I completely understand his revulsion to communism but Russia is an autocracy for better or worse. It is what it is. So
    The US promised in 1991 not to move one inch east against Russia. It had 16 NATO countries then. Now it has 30 (soon to be 32?). They have no right to complain? US overthrew elected Ukraine president in 2014. Where was his outrage? The Ukrainian people are suffering from Russia AND Ukraine
    governments now. The neonazis in Ukraine have an inordinate amount of power there. How did this happen? Does Kissin really support this?
    BTW, THE GULAG ARCHIPELAGO is required reading for all Russian high school students.
    Why didn’t the West “eradicate” Communism in Russia?
    Why don’t you check out the World Economic Forum to see what neo communism is.

    https://www.weforum.org/

    • M2N2K says:

      All those central-eastern European countries who asked and where permitted to join NATO did that because they know their big eastern neighbor all too well. And recent events show that they were correct. If all those Ukrainian “neonazis”have so much “power” that they elected a Jew to be their President, then I wouldn’t be concerned about them nearly as much as I am with the invading army that is busy destroying cities and murdering thousands of civilians in the smaller country that has never threatened a single inch of their neighbors’ territory.

      • Hayne says:

        You ignore the agreement to not expand NATO.
        This war could have been avoided if the US stayed out. The US overthrew the Ukraine president in 2014 and it doesn’t matter to you?
        https://covertactionmagazine.com/2022/03/13/censored-reports-from-donbass-make-clear-ukraine-and-not-russia-started-the-war-eight-years-ago/

        Over 14,000 people have died in the Donbass by Ukrainian shelling since 2014. You don’t care?
        If you think the neonazis will not turn on the West with the billions in weapons from them you are sadly mistaken. A lot of Ukraine people revere Stepan Bandera.
        Zelensky is a Jewish thug.
        Zelensky’s backer, Ukraine oligarch Kolomoisky funded the Azov regiment. He is a Jewish thug.
        The neo nazis are thugs.
        Notice any similarities?
        Try to look past the incessant propaganda.

        • M2N2K says:

          What matters to me and what I care about is making correct choices when it comes to which sources to believe. Those of us who like Kissin and I lived for considerable time in Russia and have been more recently living for considerable time in the West know the difference and understand that trusting any information coming from a country such as today’s Russia where there is practically no free press left is, to put it mildly, a clear error. That is why Kissin’s point of view is very reasonable and fully justified.

  • Nick says:

    Kissin is, as always, absolutely right!! Bravo!

  • Bostonian says:

    An excellent statement about the failure of certain among the powerful – both in Europe and North America – to stand up to contemporary imperialism and fascism. Bravo, Evgeny!

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