Presentation of Ksenia Kirillova's book about war and moral choice will take place in Germany

Sergei Bessonov, like many of his compatriots, finds himself in a difficult situation: at the moment of the start of Moscow's full-scale aggression against Ukraine, he is deeply involved in working for Russia. Knowing perfectly well how terrible and senseless war is, he, nevertheless, does not find the strength to break with his own country. The situation is aggravated by the fact that Sergei is connected with intelligence, and once already tried to get away from his former colleagues. Realizing that he will not be forgiven for the second attempt, he continues to be drawn deeper and deeper into the web of dubious special operations. Sergey almost comes to terms with the new reality when he suddenly finds out that a person close to him is in Mariupol surrounded by a blockade ...

Photo from the personal archive of Ksenia Kirillova

This is the beginning of the fictional novel "Efron's Mistake", in which, despite the parallels with the events of almost a hundred years ago, we are talking about today. The book was published by a German Russian-language publishing house FRESH Verlag, based translator and editor Love Machina. The presentation of the novel will take place March 19 in Düsseldorf и March 24 at 16:00 in Berlin at the ArtCityPeople Creative Space at Oranienburger Strasse 32.

Author of the book, ForumDaily journalist and expert of American think tanks Ksenia Kirillova not the first year professionally engaged in tracking the aggressive plans of the Kremlin, including the current Russian-Ukrainian war. Nevertheless, the author emphasizes that only a few chapters of the novel are devoted to the nightmare taking place in Ukraine, while the main goal of the book is to show from the inside the subtle mechanisms of meanness and self-justification, thanks to which many Russians manage to “ignore” the war and even support it.

«It is no secret that today, when friends and relatives of many of us have suffered from the war, it is psychologically very difficult to try to understand those who are able to work for modern Russia. In no way am I trying to justify this behaviour. Most people believe in propaganda because they want to believe in it for their own comfort. And this, of course, is their moral choice, which implies at least moral responsibility. However, it is important for us to understand how such people think, so that against all odds we can try to reach out to those whom we can still influence.", - believes Xenia.

Photo from the personal archive of Ksenia Kirillova

The author hopes that her book can become a "vaccination" for those today's emigrants who are at risk of repeating the infamous mistake Sergey Efron - wife of a poetess Marina Tsvetaeva, a White Guard emigrant who became an agent of the NKVD and was eventually shot by his own comrades-in-arms on a slanderous denunciation.

«For many of those leaving Russia today, it seems that they will never compromise with the Putin regime. But, unfortunately, the human body is designed in such a way that after several years of emigration it tends to experience temporary nostalgia. This is a kind of physiological predisposition associated with how the human psyche, in principle, survive any loss. Even if the parting with the motherland was traumatic, against the background of repression and militaristic frenzy, over the years it is common for a person to begin to feel sad about the good things that happened in his life, and that it is already impossible to return", - explains the author.

Ksenia emphasizes that such sadness in itself is completely normal, and you should not be ashamed of it. On the contrary, psychologists advise you to allow yourself to experience this feeling, if it comes, to mourn the past and say goodbye to it forever. Moreover, if a person tries to artificially displace nostalgia and not allow himself to remember any bright moments, he spends a huge emotional resource on this. In difficult periods of life, repressed longing can suddenly emerge, and a person in this state can become vulnerable to manipulation from the outside.

«Unfortunately, sometimes even not the worst people are capable of meanness in moments of weakness. And I hope that if someone recognizes himself in Sergei, he will go through this temptation with him, and through the eyes of the hero of the book in the finale he will see in detail what was happening in the besieged Mariupol. I would be glad if this causes the reader some kind of catharsis that can keep him from complicity in this nightmare.", the author hopes.

The scenes in Mariupol were recreated according to the testimonies of eyewitnesses and volunteers, the collective images of which are also presented in the novel. The main character finds himself in the city in mid-April 2022, when Mariupol is already partially occupied by Russian troops, but fighting is still going on in it. In addition, the novel shows the operations of Russian intelligence in the US and Europe, which makes the book not only a psychological drama, but also a fascinating spy novel.

Writer and managing director of the philanthropic foundation "Real Russia» Oleg Radzinsky commented on the novel:This book is about now. And you need to read it now. This book is about us. And we must read it. This book is about choice. And choose now».

At the presentation, it will be possible to personally meet the author, hear excerpts from the novel and poemsdedicated to the war. The author's previous novels were published in of Russia, Ukraine и USA and repeatedly got into in the lists of recommended literature of leading Ukrainian publications.

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