Sanctions, boycotts, bans, penalties of all kind: there’s no end to the punishments being slapped on Moscow. But amid the frantic rush of institutions and individuals to distance themselves from Russia, some seem to be somewhat overstepping the mark.
The Cardiff Philharmonic has today cancelled an all-Tchaikovsky programme as ‘inappropriate at this time’; Russian conductor Valery Gergiev was sacked last week by the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra for failing to condemn Putin. In Italy, the University of Milano-Bicocca has been forced to backtrack after trying to cancel a Dostoevsky course while at least three MPs in the UK have suggested stripping Russians in Britain of their citizenship.
But now one man at the Daily Mail has done his own unique form of protest. Oliver Smith – previously known as Oleg Vishnepolsky – has taken to LinkedIn to explain he is now in the process of legally changing his name in protest at the ‘invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent atrocities being committed by the Russian government.
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