When I read reminders in the Latvian information space that, in the context of the aggression against Ukraine, there is no longer a "grey" area and that there are situations in life where one cannot remain on the sidelines, I agree with this position and hope that we will be just as decisive on other occasions when it would be more convenient "not to make a fuss".

Anger, despair, and fear make human emotions and judgements more categorical. This is not the remark of an ironic or cold-blooded observer, as I see this shift in myself too when reading about Ukraine. If the Ukrainian writer and poet Serhiy Zhadan writes on 6 March that Russia’s aggression against Ukraine has put an end to the discourse on the "great Russian culture, the culture of Tolstoy and Dostoevsky", which stands above politics and the present, then, reading this harsh statement on 7 March, I am inclined to agree with Zhadan, which I most likely would not have done on 7 February. If the Ukrainian singer – an ethnic Russian, by the way – Olya Polyakova, as the saying goes, "opens fire" on the reluctance of the majority of Russian society to even learn the truth, I agree with her anger. From this perspective, I have no objection to the categorical tone that comes through when assessing the silence of Russian society. Namely, that the evasive position of "we are all for peace, but you yourselves understand what kind of country we live in" is unacceptable. It is either one or the other.