“Tchaikovsky and Tolstoy, Mussorgsky and Pushkin, Shostakovich and Akhmatova, among countless others, have given us gifts through their immortal creations. Are we to refuse them now solely because of their Russian origins?”

Semyon Bychkov was invited by The Economist to contribute to their By Invitation column to write about the Russian invasion of Ukraine, its impact on the arts and the importance of retaining creative freedom during conflict:

You can read his full piece here.