Goodbye to Russia: A Personal Reckoning from the Ruins of War

by Sarah Rainsford

A unique, personal insight into Vladimir Putin's Russia and the devastating impact his rule has had on his own people and those of neighbouring Ukraine.

In 2021, Sarah Rainsford set out to write a book about how Russians who dared to think differently to the Putin regime were being labelled as enemies, foreign agents and even traitors. It began as the story of Russia's slide from democracy and a warning of where the crushing of liberties could lead. She had experienced something of that herself when she was expelled from Russia as a supposed 'security threat'. Then in February 2022 Putin began his full-scale invasion of Ukraine.

This is the story of how Putin changed Russia so deeply that he was able to launch the biggest conflict in Europe since the Second World War. Sarah's focus is on the extraordinary characters she has encountered, from the Russians such as Boris Nemtsov and Alexei Navalny who paid with their lives for challenging Putin, to the Ukrainians she found burying their dead in Bucha. It is also her own, personal reckoning with a country she saw emerge from decades of authoritarian rule to embrace new freedoms in the 1990s that has now quashed internal dissent and declared a ruinous war on its neighbour.

The culmination of many years of on-the-ground reporting, Goodbye to Russia shines a light on the attacks on freedom that she has witnessed, bringing a human perspective to a story that is often faceless.

Genres: Nonfiction, Russia, History, Politics, Memoir, War, Ukraine

372 pages, Kindle Edition

First published August 15, 2024

Reviews

[Sadwick · Rating 1 out of 5]

First of all: author using a picture of Ukrainian refugees fleeing their homes from russian forces to evoke sympathy for HER VISION OF russia.

With such title... it's perfect example of "appropriation of the pain".
Caused by russia for centuries (if u know history).


Author (in my opinion) is a product of "Slavic Stadies" aka "great russian culture".
She romanticize the "Russia she loved", enjoying freedom and privileges of her status (foreigner), ignoring the suffers and disdain felt by those who actually lived there.
This disconnect is surprising in 2024.

For me it's example of typical tone deaf ongoing conveyer of pieces about "enigma of russian soil", "mysterious russian soul" and etc.

Please educate yourself:
1) https://euvsdisinfo.eu/five-myths-tha...
2) https://european-resilience.org/analy...


russian society, russian literature, Putin are not existing in vacuum.
They are interconnected things. They are a reflection of each other.

Western wishful thinking of pure and innocent russians is harming others.
russians “repressed by the putin regime” tortured, starved, raped and slaughtered Ukrainian POWs and civilians.

Time to Question Russia’s Imperial Innocence:
1) https://www.ponarseurasia.org/time-to...
2) https://www.youtube.com/watch?si=6ngB...


Some more reading/watching below.

Books:
1) "A table with a view on Kremlin" by a Polish journalist Pawel Reszka
2) "Internationalism or Russification" by Ivan Dzyuba
3) "The Whisperers: Private Life in Stalin's Russia"


Articles and videos:
Rereading Russian Classics in the Shadow of the Ukraine War:
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/20...

Decolonization and the Power of Absence:
https://en.lb.ua/news/2022/03/17/1131...


The Origins of Russian Colonialism: From Pushkin to Putin by Prof. Dr. Ewa Thompson:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jSNRP...

Colonial discourse in Russian literature Elif Batuman, Oksana Zabuzhko, Ewa Thompson:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UvXvM...

[wow_42 · Rating 1 out of 5]

russia is a terrorist state, an empire that commits genocide of Ukrainians every single day. don't forget about it. don't forget the millions of Ukrainians killed by terror-russians over the centuries. this is not done by putin himself, it is done by russians. just read how many wars russia has started in the 20th century.

russia must be decolonized. and if this causes you indignation, then ask yourself: do I look at the world through russian imperial propaganda?

[Юлія Бернацька · Rating 1 out of 5]

"This is the story of how Putin changed Russia so deeply that he was able to launch the biggest conflict in Europe since the Second World War."

"It is also her own, personal reckoning with a country she saw emerge from decades of authoritarian rule to embrace new freedoms in the 1990s that has now quashed internal dissent and declared a ruinous war on its neighbour."

Ah, right "new freedoms" russia was embracing in the 1990s by invading Georgia in 1993 and waging their first war on Ichkeria in 1994-1996. Few years before putin even came to power in 1999. How dare he changed russians so much and started doing...the exact same things they were already doing even before him?

Girl, be for fucking real.

Also, yes it's super disgusting putting photo of Ukrainian children fleeing war started by russians on the cover of your book about russia.

[Ксенія Шпак · Rating 1 out of 5]

"This is the story of how Putin changed Russia so deeply that he was able to launch the biggest conflict in Europe since the Second World War."

But how about a war on Ichkeria (Chechnya) in 1994-1996? Putin had not yet come to power then...

[Thea | (unapologetic_bibliosmia) · Rating 5 out of 5]

(a preface to state that the number of 1 star reviews on this book have to either be Russian agents out to discredit or extremely mis informed do-gooders who have completely misinterpreted the purpose of the book and havent actually read it)

Gosh. What to say about this experience reading Sarah Rainsford's account of her 20 odd years in Russia. Part diary, part political commentary, part social commentary, part historical snapshot. At times I had to completely pinch myself and remind myself that the recounts I was reading were from 2023, and not 1943. Ive read so many WW2 non fiction books just like this that I absolutely could not beleive the similarities in what I was reading and yet this was happening just last year. I can literally place myself and what i was doing on those days while horror was occurring just a 3 odd hour flight away.

This book is in equal parts enthralling and horrifying. I could not stop reading but equally I was so saddened by every new chapter I read.

Sarah Rainsford makes for a fantastic narrator. Being a BBC journalist based in Russia since 1992, you can feel her internal struggle with her love for the country she has called home for so long, and has spend her entire career reporting on and the truth of the horrors being commited today. Being banished from the country she has called home for so long for simply reporting on the truth of events occurring recently,just shows how desperate and restrictive a dictatorship Russia has become. Her experiences make her a fantastic, accountable, relatable and trustworthy narrator and I really felt for her having to abandon the country she loved and felt apart of for so long, and could feel the anguish in the shame of what Russia was doing also. I am pleased to read that she continues to be a correspondant in Ukraine and is able to continue to highlight the disgusting events unfolding from there. The chapters are well written, easy to follow and read and break the topics up nicely. They do flit around in time a bit ublike a linear diary narrative so I had to keep checking what the date of the entry was (before or after the Ukraine invasion in my head I suppose) but the historical entries give you a feel for the underlying issues that occurred in the run up to the invasion in 2022.

I learned SO much from this book, and for that I'm truly grateful. What ignorance I've been living in. So many names of influential people ive read about in here I've googled and learned so much more. Heroes who have fought the opression of Russia from long long ago who are being silenced now in some of the worst ways possible. In 2022 2023 and 2024. Not 1924. Its shocking. The bombing of schools, the poisoning of their own residents, the shooting in the back of the head of little old men who have done nothing but live in the wrong area.

In February 2022 I was having a baby. My life changed for better and I have spent the following 2 years living in 3 different countries but in total bliss. Not in total ignorance as I knew of the war happening in Ukraine, but im ashamed how little I'd really understood the absolute atrocities happening. I think we will all look back and be ashamed and disgusted that this happened in our lifetimes and wonder what we could have done differently. I am so thankful for this book. Thanks Sarah Rainsford for opening my eyes. And thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for allowing me this experience.

I'm pleased to see since this book was published in just the last 2 weeks, that many political prisoners mentioned herein have been released. I hope this is the start of the end.

[Jen Burrows · Rating 4 out of 5]

Goodbye to Russia is an honest and thought-provoking memoir from BBC journalist Sarah Rainsford, who found herself expelled from Russia in 2021 when she was classed an 'enemy of the state'.

Following the decline of freedom of speech from the early 2000s through to the ongoing war in Ukraine, Rainsford tells the stories of Russian dissidents who have dared to speak out against the state. Her interviewees have all been forced to make the difficult decision whether or not to speak up for what's right when doing so could mean imprisonment or death.

Mixing frontline journalism with candid diary entries, sometimes the jumbled chronology gets a bit confusing, but Rainsford succeeds in capturing the complexity of conflict - both personal and political, as well as all-out war.

Goodbye to Russia is a challenging and heartfelt read.

*Thank you to Netgalley for the arc in exchange for an honest review*

[Stephen · Rating 3 out of 5]

authors relationship of working in Russia and seeing the rise of putin and latterly seeing and experiencing the war in Ukraine. very interesting

[Paul Lehane · Rating 4 out of 5]

A tragic story..4.5 stars..SR brilliantly evokes the current situation in Russia & Ukraine & shines a light on Putins war crimes.

[Andy Lopata · Rating 5 out of 5]

Some interesting reviews here, to say the least! Let me offer my own, hopefully objective, thoughts.

This is a tough read but an essential one. It’s not tough in terms of writing style, it’s very readable and the author is a good storyteller, as you’d expect. But the stories themselves bring the headlines to life, introducing us to the people behind the news, along with the real impact on their families.

It’s a mixture of mini-autobiography, centred around the author’s expulsion from Russia, stories of the increasingly diminishing opposition within Russia and the impact of the war on everyday Ukrainians.

I strongly recommend investing some time in this book. It’s an illuminating read. Just try to keep an open mind when you do so if you have an interest in events from either side.

[Kim · Rating 5 out of 5]

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley after reading about it. I remembered Sarah being expelled from Russia and wanted to read her story of it all. Sarah fell in love with Russia from her visits there as both a teenager and a student. Her knowledge of the language and the people gave her an insight to a country that so many of us will never visit and to read of her despair at how Putin turned the country backwards to a state where fear seems to rule is both interesting and frightening. Even more frightening for those who are fighting against this, knowing what will happen to them.

How she goes from being a journalist travelling around the country to basically being classed as an enemy of the state is told here. Alongside the fear of what could happen to her as she reports on the suspicious deaths of Russians who become classed as enemies of the state and the imprisonment of two Americans who are classed as spies.

Rainsford moves to reporting from Ukraine after her expulsion from Russia and speaks very movingly of some of the horrors inflicted on the Ukrainians by the people who are supposedly rescuing them from the west. But she also tells how apathy is setting in slowly amongst the Ukrainians and that some feel that they might be able to deal with Putin…..I think that they should read this book to realise that Putin marches to the beat of his own drum and that there would be no dealing with him.

A very interesting and important book written from the a journalist’s real love of a country and it’s people and also written from the despair of the doors being firmly closed again on freedoms hard won.

[Alin · Rating 4 out of 5]

While not a definitive treatise on Russia, this work offers an interesting personal narrative. The author's candid reflections and experiences offer interesting perspectives, inviting readers to consider the complexities of the nation beyond the headlines.

The cover, while one might find misleading or ignorant, might carry a deeper significance that some might overlook. Maye author one day will explain the choice.
It's unfortunate that this has led to hasty one-star ratings. Readers should rather engage with the text before forming a judgment.

[Gergely · Rating 3 out of 5]

Sarah Rainsford has been a career producer and reporter for the BBC in Cuba, Turkey, Spain and Russia. Her heart clearly lies in the latter, as the place she has spent the most time in and has been most captured by.

She explains at the start she started writing this book (after her laughable expulsion from Russia as a "threat to national security") as a way of showing Russia's development over the last twenty years through the lenses of persecuted Russians that she has gotten to know and write about on the way. Then Russia invaded Ukraine, and she decided to adjust the book to take into account her own personal reckoning with a country that she had put decades of personal and professional investment into.

In the end, I think the book gets slightly lost between the two themes. For the first aim, I feel she covered a lot of ground that other writers have already done. For the second (and what attracted me to the book), I felt not enough of the book was dedicated to her own personal experiences outside of the newsroom. I feel this was an opportunity lost to delve deeper into what attracted Rainsford so much to the country and kept her coming back. I never understood what she so loved or found so fascinating about living and working in Russia.

I had also hoped she would have more of her personal stories to tell - after all, she was there in the early 1990's, a unique experience after the collapse of the Soviet Union (her account of foreign students being hired as fake bodyguard for a small time gangster in St Petersburg, for example, is quite the scene).

Instead, mostly the book focuses on people and events that I - albeit as someone who reads avidly about Russian politics - have read of time and again. The Kursk submarine disaster, the murders of Nemtsov and Politkovskaya, the Beslan massacre, the persecution of Navalny etc.

In terms of the looking at life in Russia through the eyes of Russians who want to bring change and have a positive impact, I have a personal preference for Joshua Yaffa's "Between Two Fires." Nevertheless, for anyone who wants an insight into political persecution in the country and hasn't already read Belton, Applebaum, Gessen, Galeotti, Zygar and co, this is a more than readable choice.

[Electra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I devoured this book.

J'ai dévoré ce récit. Un gros coup de coeur pour la journaliste Sarah Rainsford. J'avoue que sa vie en Russie m'a rappelé mon propre projet personnel et ma fascination pour la Russie au point d'en apprendre la langue.
Sarah revient sur les 21 ans passés en Russie, sa fascination pour ce pays, les couvertures des plus grands évènements (en revenant sur Buchan, le Koursk ou la guerre en Tchétchénie) et en décrivant comment le président russe a lentement mais sûrement retiré toute liberté d'expression et de presse (télévisée depuis 2006) et comment les opposants politiques ont été muselés (expulsion, arrestation, condamnation et empoissonnement)
C'est effrayant et très instructif avec pour Sarah une expulsion définitive en 2021 car déclarée comme une menace par le gouvernement russe.
Un formidable plaider pour la liberté avec le nom de tous ces opposants sacrifiés et qui continuent avec leurs maigres moyens à tenter de lutter. Et évidemment, le coup de massue avec la guerre en Ukraine.

[Dmitry · Rating 3 out of 5]

(The English review is placed beneath the Russian one)

Эта книга является частично авторским дневником и частично коротким обзором некоторых ключевых событий в современной российской истории. Если говорить точнее, то автор попыталась показать, как ситуация пришла к тому, что сегодня Россия ведёт боевые действия против Украины, т.е. какие произошли события, что привели к тому, что в России гражданское общество не смогло помешать действиям Путина в феврале 2022 года. И действительно, автор своей книгой как бы отвечает на вопрос многих людей: почему российское общество молчит, почему оно ничего не предпринимает, чтобы остановить ту войну, которою начал Путин. Для людей, которые осведомлены о текущей политической ситуации в России, ответ на этот вопрос очевидный – диктатура, однако для многих иностранцев, которые всё ещё считают, что после распада СССР в России воцарилась слабая демократия, эта книга может стать ответом на вопрос, почему российское общество не сопротивляется Путину. И вот в этом главная ценность книги, т.е. что книга объясняет людям, плохо разбирающимся в современной истории России, почему российский народ безмолвствует.

Для ответа на этот вопрос, автор вспоминает ключевые события, которые были яркими эпизодами ещё одной войны – войны диктаторской административной путинской системы против российского гражданского общества. Сюда можно включить не только репрессии против мирных демонстрантов, которые особенно запомнились в период митингов 2011-12 годов, но убийства таких видных деятелей как Борис Немцов и Анна Политковская. Конечно, с моей точки зрения, авторитарная модель появилась не при Путине, и не при Путине началось физическое устранение особо ярких голосов российской общественности, а при Ельцине. Именно при Ельцине была развязана чеченская война, которую российское общество не смогло остановить, а так же убийства многих ярких журналистов, в период правления Ельцина, начиная с убийства Влада Листьева и заканчивая убийствами Пола Хлебникова и Дмитрия Холодова. Именно при Ельцине были убиты самые бескомпромиссные журналисты. То, что сделал Путин, является лишь добиванием независимой журналистики. Но вернёмся к книге.

Книга построена в виде как бы дневников, когда в одном случаи автор описывает то или иное событие из современной истории России как, например, убийство Бориса Немцова, после чего следующей главой может быть либо короткая заметка о событии в Украине в 2022 году или запись, которую можно определить как дневниковая запись автора, т.е. о том, как она жила и работала в России в качестве журналиста, а также как проходила процедура её изгнания из страны. Вот примерно так и построена книга. Книга читается легко и быстро и поэтому книга скорее походит на серию репортажей или на серию газетных статей, нежели на книгу с одной единственной главной темой.

В книге для себя лично я ничего нового не нашёл, за исключением пары интересных записей. К примеру, автор отмечает интересное событие в первой половины 90-ых годов.

Yeltsin didn’t shy away from the public anger. In mid-January 1992, Russia’s first elected president had been on walkabout in various cities, addressing crowds through a loudhailer and seeking their support for his deep-cutting reforms. He blamed seven decades of communism for what he was having to do, asking for patience and understanding. In some places he found it, in others he was met with jeers.

But on 23 February, the communists had been denied permission to march through central Moscow. Their route to Manezhnaya Square was blocked by rows of OMON riot police, snow ploughs and rubbish trucks. When several thousand demonstrators tried to charge the lines, police beat them back with truncheons. The worst clashes were to the north, on Mayakovskaya Square, where several dozen people were injured, and a rumour spread that a senior military figure had died of a heart attack after being struck on the head. The day ended with a firework salyut to mark the military holiday as planned.

Судя по этому свидетельству автора, не Путин был первым кто начал разгонять антиправительственные митинги и шествия. Конечно, в то время митинги и шествия против Ельцина не были такими массовыми, но то, что даже такие не массовые шествия разгонялись силой, хорошо показывает, что если бы при Ельцине произошли похожие митинги и шествия, какие произошли в 2011-12 годах при Путине, их бы тоже разгоняли бы силой. При Ельцине не было такого масштаба репрессий по отношению к протестующим, но не потому, что он это не допускал, а потому, что тогда таких крупных демонстраций просто не было, как не было популярных либеральных лидеров протеста. Но меня заинтересовало в этом то, что даже небольшие акции протеста, которые явно не были угрозой ельцинскому режиму, даже в начале 90-ых годов и то разгонялись силами ОМОНа.

Второй момент в книге напомнил мне книгу «The Dogs of Mariupol Russia's Invasion and the Forging of Ukraine's Iron Generation», в которой автор так же сознательно или нет, описывает те действия украинцев в 2022 которые могут служить объяснением тех действий армии России, которые сегодня классифицируются как военные преступления или как чрезмерное применение силы.

Leonid had already retired, but he’d taken on the job in the bike shop to top up his pension and keep himself occupied. When the war started, his family were relieved he was so far out of the capital, where they assumed he’d be safer. But on his very first day at work, as Russian forces advanced along the E40 towards Kyiv, he got trapped. The local territorial defence asked the pensioner to act as lookout, so Leonid would sometimes climb onto the bike-store roof and report back what he saw.

Т.е. получается, государственные органы попросили гражданских следить за передвижением российской боевой техники, но ведь это называется активная помощь украинской армии, разе нет? Т.е. если мы хотим понять, почему российские военные расстреливали гражданских, то вот эта заметка автора и может быть ответом или частичным ответом. Я хочу отметить, что я не пытаюсь найти оправдания для российских военных и их действий, я просто пытаюсь понять, каковы причины такого зверского отношения со стороны российской армии по отношению к украинскому гражданскому населению. И вот судя по всему, это один из ответов. И тут возникает другой вопрос: насколько оправданным были такие просьбы со стороны украинской власти. В частности со стороны государственных локальных органов, которые своей просьбой фактически подставили гражданских под удар. И тогда возникает ещё более неприятный вопрос: а не по этой ли причине не были эвакуированы гражданские лица с поля боя?

I wondered whether grief and anger might overcome fear, and the men’s wives and mothers become a political force. It had happened before, during the chechen wars, but this time there’s been little sign of that.

Странно, автор утверждает, что она прожила в России около 20 лет, но так и не поняла, что в России, начиная с Ельцина, мнение народа мало что значит для верховной российской власти. О каких жёнах и матерях военнослужащих, что воевали в Чечне, пишет автор, если общество так и не смогло заставить Ельцина решить чеченскую проблему миром, но главное, что никто не понёс наказание за начало войны в Чечне. Мне можно возразить, сказав, что Ельцин же подписал Хасавюртовские соглашения и тем самым закончил первую чеченскую войну? Это был исключительно PR ход, т.к. основная проблема не была решена и поэтому вторая чеченская война была неизбежной. Ельцин закончил первую чеченскую войну не потому, что его принудило к этому российское гражданское общество, а потому, что российская армия находилась в очень бедственном положении и явно нуждалась в передышке и перевооружении. Так что ни Борис Немцов с его миллионными подписями против продолжения войны в Чечне ни гражданское общество, ни являлись теми причинами, почему Ельцин пошёл на такой шаг. Так что то, что пишет автор и то, что по её мнению могло бы остановить войну в Украине, является попыткой выдать желаемое за действительное. Увы, но верховная российская власть так и не стала подотчётной российскому обществу, как по причине отсутствия гражданского общества в России, так и из-за отсутствия реальной оппозиции и реальной партийной оппозиции. Да и вообще, с демократическими институтами в тот период в России ситуация была очень и очень плохой, т.е. все демократические институты, которые появились, были очень слабы, а после 1993 года тренд на воссоздание автократической модели правления с каждым годом всё ускорялся и ускорялся, а силовые ведомства всё сильнее и сильнее упрочняли своё положение и всё виднее маячил путинизм как последняя стадия ельцинизма. Странно, что автор этого так и не поняла…


This book is partly the author's diary and partly a short review of some key events in modern Russian history. More specifically, the author tried to show how the situation came to the point where today Russia is fighting against Ukraine, i.e. what events occurred that led to the fact that in Russia civil society was unable to prevent Putin's actions in February 2022. And indeed, with his book, the author seems to answer the question of many people: why Russian society is silent, why it does do nothing to stop the war that Putin has started? For people who are aware of the current political situation in Russia, the answer to this question is obvious - dictatorship, but for many foreigners who still think that after the collapse of the USSR, Russia has a weak democracy, this book may be the answer to the question why Russian society is not resisting Putin. This is the main value of the book, i.e., that the book explains to people who are not well versed in modern Russian history why the Russian people are silent.

To answer this question, the author recalls key events that were vivid episodes of another war - the war of Putin's dictatorial administrative system against Russian civil society. This can include not only the repression of peaceful demonstrators, which was particularly memorable during the 2011-12 rallies but also the murders of such prominent figures as Boris Nemtsov and Anna Politkovskaya. Of course, from my point of view, the authoritarian model did not emerge under Putin, and it was not under Putin that the physical elimination of particularly bright voices of the Russian public began, but under Yeltsin. It was under Yeltsin that the Chechen war was unleashed, which Russian society was unable to stop, as well as the murders of many bright journalists during Yeltsin's reign, from the murder of Vlad Listyev to the murders of Paul Khlebnikov and Dmitry Kholodov. It was under Yeltsin that the most uncompromising journalists were killed. What Putin has done is only the culmination of what Yeltsin started. But back to the book.

The book is organized in the form of diaries, when in one case the author describes one or another event from the modern history of Russia, such as the murder of Boris Nemtsov and then the next chapter can be either a short note about an event in Ukraine in 2022 or an entry that can be defined as a diary entry of the author, i.e. about how she lived and worked in Russia as a journalist, as well as how the procedure of her expulsion from the country took place. This is roughly how the book is structured. The book is easy and quick to read, so it is more like a series of reports or a series of newspaper articles rather than a book with a single main theme.

I didn't find anything new in the book for me personally, except for a couple of interesting notes. For example, the author notes an interesting event in the first half of the 90s.

Yeltsin didn’t shy away from the public anger. In mid-January 1992, Russia’s first elected president had been on walkabout in various cities, addressing crowds through a loudhailer and seeking their support for his deep-cutting reforms. He blamed seven decades of communism for what he was having to do, asking for patience and understanding. In some places he found it, in others he was met with jeers.

But on 23 February, the communists had been denied permission to march through central Moscow. Their route to Manezhnaya Square was blocked by rows of OMON riot police, snow ploughs and rubbish trucks. When several thousand demonstrators tried to charge the lines, police beat them back with truncheons. The worst clashes were to the north, on Mayakovskaya Square, where several dozen people were injured, and a rumour spread that a senior military figure had died of a heart attack after being struck on the head. The day ended with a firework salyut to mark the military holiday as planned.

Judging by this author's testimony, Putin was not the first to disperse anti-government rallies and marches. Of course, at that time the rallies and marches against Yeltsin were not so massive but the fact that even such non-mass marches were dispersed by force shows well that if similar rallies and marches had taken place under Yeltsin as they did in 2011-12 under Putin, they would have been dispersed by force as well. There was no such scale of repression of protesters under Yeltsin, not because he didn't allow it, but because there were simply no such large demonstrations, and there were no popular liberal protest leaders. But what I found interesting in this is that even small protests, which were clearly not a threat to the Yeltsin regime, even in the early 1990s were dispersed by riot police.

The second point in the book reminded me of the book “The Dogs of Mariupol: Russia's Invasion and the Forging of Ukraine's Iron Generation”, in which the author just as consciously or not, describes those actions of Ukrainians in 2022, which can serve as an explanation for those actions of the Russian army, which today are classified as war crimes or as excessive use of force.

Leonid had already retired, but he’d taken on the job in the bike shop to top up his pension and keep himself occupied. When the war started, his family were relieved he was so far out of the capital, where they assumed he’d be safer. But on his very first day at work, as Russian forces advanced along the E40 towards Kyiv, he got trapped. The local territorial defence asked the pensioner to act as lookout, so Leonid would sometimes climb onto the bike-store roof and report back what he saw.

I.e. it turns out that the state authorities asked civilians to monitor the movement of Russian military equipment, but this is called active assistance to the Ukrainian army, isn't it? I.e. if we want to understand why the Russian military shot civilians, then this note by the author can be the answer or a partial answer. I want to note that I am not trying to find excuses for the Russian military and their actions, I am just trying to understand what are the reasons for such a brutal attitude of the Russian army towards Ukrainian civilians. And this appears to be one of the answers. And here another question arises: how justified were such requests on the part of the Ukrainian authorities? In particular, on the part of the state local bodies, which with their request actually put civilians at risk. And then there is an even more unpleasant question: is this not the reason why civilians were not evacuated from the battlefield?

I wondered whether grief and anger might overcome fear, and the men’s wives and mothers become a political force. It had happened before, during the chechen wars, but this time there’s been little sign of that.

Strangely, the author claims that she has lived in Russia for about 20 years, but never found that in Russia, since Yeltsin, the opinion of the people means little to the supreme Russian authorities. What wives and mothers of servicemen who fought in Chechnya the author writes about, if the society failed to force Yeltsin to solve the Chechen problem peacefully, but most importantly, no one was punished for starting the war in Chechnya. One could argue that Yeltsin signed the Khasavyurt agreements and thus ended the first Chechen war. This was a purely PR move as the main problem had not been solved and therefore a second Chechen war was inevitable. Yeltsin ended the first Chechen war not because Russian civil society forced him to do so, but because the Russian army was in a very bad situation and clearly needed a break and rearmament. So neither Boris Nemtsov and his millions of signatures against the continuation of the war in Chechnya, nor civil society, were the reasons why Yeltsin took such a step. So what the author writes and what she thinks could stop the war in Ukraine is an attempt to make wishful thinking. Alas, the supreme Russian authorities have never become accountable to Russian society, both because there is no civil society in Russia and because there is no real opposition and no real party opposition. In general, the situation with democratic institutions at that time in Russia was very bad, i.e. all democratic institutions that appeared were very weak, plus, after 1993 the trend to recreate the autocratic model of government was accelerating year by year, and the law enforcement agencies were consolidating their position more and more, and Putinism as the last stage of Yeltsinism was becoming more and more visible. It is strange that the author never realized this...

[Daniel Headifen · Rating 4 out of 5]

First time I’ve felt emotional reading an acknowledgments. You know the history but it still bugs that it creeps up on us. You’re feeling bad for the activists in Russia. Then she’s in Ukraine and it’s hard to care about them standing trial while others are getting bombed. Which is the point she makes. Xmas present from kids/vic from Books & co in Ōtaki.

[Ann Reid · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great account of the authors lifelong interest in and love for Russia which Sarah Rainsford tries to reconcile with the war mongering, authoritarian Russia of today. Starting as a young student, she developed a passion for Russia, its culture and people that kept drawing her back. While working as an English teacher there she witnessed the fall of the USSR and the resilience of ordinary Russians as they tried to survive as inflation soared. Moving into journalism and eventually as BBC foreign correspondent based in Moscow, she covered post soviet Russia, the rise of Putin, the supression of political opposition and the wars that were used to solidify his grip on power over the years. I think in the west we often wonder why there is so credible opposition in Russia and no civil dissent. In the book she mentions some brave individuals who fought back and paid a very heavy price personally for their actions, effectively ensuring that their punishment would serve as a deterrent for others. Press freedoms continue to be suppressed and Sarah even found herself expelled from Russia in 2021 ‘as a threat to national security’.

[Rachel N · Rating 5 out of 5]

Sarah Rainsford obviously loves Russia. Her experience in the country ranges from her first visits as a teenager and student in the early 90s to her work there as a BBC foreign correspondent until her expulsion in 2021. Her knowledge of the language, years of living there and many friends alongside her journalistic access and years of reporting give her a huge amount of insight into the country over the entire period and it’s fascinating.

Goodbye to Russia manages to be both hugely informative and extremely readable. Rainsford uses extracts from her diaries and reports over the years, as well as interviews and conversations with Russians from all areas of life and it gives a very well balanced overview. She obviously loves the country and the people but after her expulsion in 2021, her reporting moves to Ukraine to cover the invasion and war and speak to ordinary Ukrainians and this very naturally affects her feeling and makes her much more ambivalent. There are so many complications from the close ties of many Ukrainians and Russians and the effects of constant propaganda and life under Putin on ordinary Russians, and Rainsford handles them all very sensitively.

A superb and important book on a fascinating subject.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an advance copy in return for an honest review.

[Nienke · Rating 4 out of 5]

The book is part history of Russia since Putin is president, part personal memoir, part Ukraine war, interspersed with the descriptions of brave Russians fighting and risking their lives to fight the totalitarian state they now live in.

Going back and forth between many time periods it is magical the reader does not get lost, yet also not as drawn in as could be possible.

It is shocking what is happening so nearby and how the west is almost be coming complacent regarding the war that is also fought for their freedom so nearby.

I would have liked some more personal stories, how being a journalist has become more difficult, not only through the horrible arrests but all the small steps I could imagine preceding that. How did her interactions change? How open did not political Russians stay? Etc etc.

[Jerry · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thanks for all the reviews so far - even the negative ones!

5 stars for content, 3 stars for style. However, she is a journalist and writes like one so why am I complaining? Certainly, a recommended read if you want a thumbnail appraisal of dissidents in Russia.

It is interesting that she hardly mentions any BBC colleagues in Russia. The BBC Russian language bureau left in 2022. and the BBC are rather shy on how many staff remain in Moscow.

It’s almost as if she was working alone. Steve Rosenberg, the BBC Russian editor is never mentioned. However, there is a clue on page 304.

“My foreign editor called to say he was sorry and wouldn’t give up on getting me back, but we both knew it was a lost cause.”

[Cathy Beyers · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a hard one for me to read and to rate. Having lived in Russia from the end of the eighties to 2005, I am probably not very objective when I read books like this. Still, a lot of it was recognisable, but we left Russia when we were beginning to see where the country was headed under Putin. The book given some insight into some of the better known events of the time but I found Sarah's personal story more interesting because it shows that the decisions of the powerful can affect everyone and everyone can be seen as an enemy, as is the Russian tradition. It is worthwhile reading it if you are interested in Russia and why it never changes.

[Aleksandra · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was struck by the level of understanding and deep insight the author - a British citizen - had into what it felt like for me - a Russian citizen - to seek closure with the place I once called home. It made me feel things I hadn’t felt in years and, after being skeptical at first, I have to be honest, Sarah truly gets it!
It’s an honest, sharp, and poignant account that serves as a wake-up call for the rest of the world. It’s also a deeply personal account of the author’s experience, pierced with shame and reminiscence.
This book is an experience in itself, taking you on a journey of re-igniting the drive to LIVE NOT BY LIES.

[Thorley · Rating 1 out of 5]

Uh yeah, another "good russians bad putin" book, classic. The author is a vulture who wants to gain popularity by using a photo of Ukrainian children who had to escape war started by russia (yeah, not putin but russia, cry about it sarah) as a cover of this sh*tpost.

Also I find it very funny how some western “journalists” will literally drink russian cum and tell everyone how good it tastes.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Who would be a foreign correspondent! Thankfully, Sarah Rainsford and others like her, are willing to take huge risks and go to places like Russia and Ukraine, so that we can know the truth about what is happening to individuals, to families, to communities, to towns and cities because one man wants to "build an empire".

[Gill · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent combination of autobiography and political commentary. It is unusual for me to read a non-fiction work cover to cover but I did that with this book. Helps that it is up to date. It brings home the horror and mindlessness of war and the importance of independent journalism.

[Imogen Clowes · Rating 5 out of 5]

Journalists so far seem to make good reading. It's interesting to hear from someone who lived in Russia and loved it. This book was shockingly exposing, capsulising what I never really grasped from the news

[Christine · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an electrifying account of life in Russia from the 90s to the present day. Gosh! An ex keen writer, accessible and easy to read, so good to,have read it.

[Ellie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another bus listen - from my fave Russia correspondent

[Graham · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent contemporary account of life in Russia and Ukraine under Putin. Readable and shocking: makes you realise how brave those who choose to express dissent within Russia are.

[Jo Buchanan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent summary of personal experience alongside the public events. Sensitively written.

[Cherry Smalley · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent

It shows how Russia has reversed back to Starlin s time x and how many are fighting back and being murdered