What the Russian-born author would have thought of Russia’s war in Ukraine
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Ukrainianforcescontinueto pummel Russian-occupiedCrimeaandassassinatehigh-ranking warcriminals onwhatwasoncetheirsovereignterritory.VladimirPutin,agraduateofLeningradStateUniversity,sayshisseizureisamatterofhistoricalprerogative.The“truesovereigntyofUkraine,”heclaims,“ispossibleonlyinpartnershipwithRussia.”AnothergraduateofLeningradStateUniversity,AlisaRosenbaum—betterknownbyher nomdeplume AynRand—foresawandcondemnedthephilosophicalunderpinningsofPutin’swarinUkraine.
Randwasonly12whensheandherfamilyfledfromPetrogradtoUkrainianCrimeain1917,duringthewitheringnationalizationcampaignsofthe
Bolsheviks.Sheandherfamilyreturnedin1921toPetrograd,where,despitetheabysmalconditionsbroughtaboutbycivilwarandcollectivization,shetookadvantageoftheCommunists’liberalpolicyofallowingwomenintouniversities.Justbeforegraduating,however,shewassummarilypurgedforbeingexcessivelybourgeois�
