The Good Russian

When Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the writer Jana Bakunina was astonished by the reactions of some of her fellow Russians in London. Far from being horrified, they had bought into the Kremlin's propaganda. Having lived for 20 years in the UK, Jana returned to her home city of Yekaterinburg to see how ordinary Russians viewed the conflict - and whether the soul of her nation had truly been crushed.Jana finds a booming city seemingly untouched by war. Reconnecting with old friends, she discovers people either happy to go along with a regime that has brought them stability, or else staying out of politics. Most painful of all, her once liberal father has channelled his personal disappointments into becoming a firm fan of Putin.In the grand humane tradition of Russian dissident writers, Jana Bakunina grapples with a universal problem: what happens when a country you love becomes infected by nationalism? What hope is there when voices of conscience are silenced by dictatorship? And can Russians in exile still imagine a liberated future?