The Good Russian

When Vladimir Putin invaded Ukraine in February 2022, the writer Jana Bakunina, who has lived in the UK for 20 years, felt furious, ashamed, but most of all helpless. A year later she travelled 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 asks what happens when a country you love becomes infected by nationalism. And whether Russians can still imagine a liberated future? 'A powerful and deeply personal exploration of what it means to be Russian today' Sarah Rainsford, author of Goodbye to Russia