“God’s world is a good place. The one thing not good in it is we. How little justice and humility there is in us. How little we understand true patriotism! . . . There is no justice, the conception of honour does not go beyond ‘the honour of the uniform’. . . . First of all, we must be just, and all the rest will be added unto us.”
–Anton Chekhov, Letter to Suvorin (1890)
“It is known that the use of force rarely brings the hoped-for results, and its consequences at times are more terrible than the original threat.”
–Vladimir Putin
Let us imagine Anton Chekhov, a doctor and writer beloved by Russia and the world, sworn to protect life, returning in the darkest hour, to comment with compassion on the current war.
Let us go back three years, recalling Russia’s principal stated aims: (1) To protect Russian speakers in the Donbas and Luhansk regions of Ukraine; (2) To prevent Ukraine from joining NATO; (3) To prevent the West from encroaching on Russia. Let us also recall how Russia promised plainly, “Our plans do not include the occupation of Ukrainian territories.” In its own narration, Russia sought to portray its interests as defensive in nature, unconvincingly to the rest of the world, as it sent hundreds of thousands of Russian military troops into Ukraine, killing unknown thousands of Ukrainians in a bloody path toward Kiev.
Let us imagine the countless tales of tragedy that the author of “Ward No. 6” could recount of these events had he followed along with the troops as chronicler of this avoidable human devastation: Soldiers and civilians killed. Many more maimed. Bodies unrecognizable. Women violated. Children orphaned. Rubble. Smoke. Pollution. Freezing. Bitterness. Mourning. Death. Death. Death.
Now, after three years of this unnatural death, deaths far beyond any lives hypothetically saved by the war, it is time to mourn, past time for peace. With the Great Physician, inevitably one is called to ask, has not enough blood been shed? Isn’t there a way out? Has Russia bartered souls and conscience for feeble power? In truth, a simple proposal should satisfy and compel the return of Russian troops to Russia, given its stated aims. Consider this prescription or rapprochement:
- Russian (and allied) soldiers leave Ukraine immediately. Russia agrees to honor pre-war Ukrainian borders. To protect all inhabitants in Ukraine, including Russian speakers in Donbas and Luhansk within Ukraine, an international peacekeeping force is deployed in the region to provide protection. Thus, Russia’s desire for protection in the region is achieved.
- Ukraine will not join NATO. Russia’s goal on this ground is achieved. (In any event, regardless of membership, Western countries, and the world, can still offer defensive protection, as history has proven.)
- Russia agrees that further violation of Ukraine’s territorial integrity will justify and lead to world intervention, sanctions, legal action, armament, and protection of the victimized party. Ukraine likewise agrees not to invade or intrude on Russian territory. (Though why would it ever do so, underdog that it is, absent prior assault by Russia?)
- Anyone removed from Ukraine would have to be returned. The parties would negotiate the return or exchange of prisoners of war.
- Reparations may also be called for and required of Russia, given its unjustified, exorbitant harm inflicted on its neighbor.
- Resolution of Crimea’s status may require further negotiation, following a peace agreement to the present war (dating the present war from the invasion in 2022). Through that subsequent negotiation, perhaps Crimea could be ceded to Russia in exchange for certain agreed upon compensation and reparations, which would necessarily be sizeable. Realistically, Ukraine may not be willing to agree to such a concession, given the unlawful nature of the seizure and annexation of Crimea. But Ukraine may have to consider that ensuring reacquisition of Crimea could exact further untold suffering and bloodshed. And Russia has to consider that, apart from a lawful and peaceful agreement supported by Ukraine (and by significant reimbursement presumably), the world will never recognize Russia’s illegal, unjust annexation of Crimea as legitimate. Its appropriation would always be tainted, its hands unclean, its record criminal. But if the cost of compensation and reparations for its unlawful annexation of Crimea is too high for Russia, it may ultimately be compelled by justice and by the just incentives and pressures of the world to relinquish its unlawful land-grab.
In this scenario, immediately possible and achievable, Ukraine is protected to the greatest feasible extent. Russian interests are also protected. A path to peace and reconciliation is begun. The parties are competent enough to accomplish this. Neither need be so incompetent or irrational to fail something so simple, a peace and a future prosperity needed by both sides. Both sides may prevail through peace.
Importantly, a plea to the Russian Orthodox Church is in order. Be more Christian. Christ directs us to love our neighbors, to love even our enemies, to pray for them, to seek peace. As long as the Russian Orthodox Church denies Christ and forbids prayers for peace, it amasses shame for itself and its country. For the Orthodox, do not oppose Christ. Rather, be like him, and the Church would merit greater honor. Pray for Ukraine. Pray for peace. Pray for obedience. Be courageous. Be Christlike. Learn from the prayers of the Orthodox Church in the Americas, uniting in prayer “that the hostilities be ceased immediately and that President Putin put an end to the military operations. As Orthodox Christians, we condemn violence and aggression.”
If Russia’s leadership is incapable of agreeing to peace, then its hypocrisy has been irrevocably seared into the conscience and memory of the world. Shortly after condemning “hypertrophied use of force in international relations” by America (or the West) elsewhere, Russia undertakes belligerent, unjustified, imperialistic war against its neighbor. Russia is self-condemned. In that event, Russia has lost its credibility on the world stage. Its reputation has receded. Its war is self-destructive. It prevents the flourishing of both Russia and Ukraine.
The negative consequences of Russia’s war are staggering, even for Russia. Clear-eyed Russians will understand that their leader’s war is poisoning Russia—its soldiers, its citizens, its conscience, its economy, its freedom:
- More than a million Russians and Ukrainians have been killed or injured in the war so far, as reported by multiple news sources.
- War crimes are being committed by Russian troops, including execution of Ukrainian POWs, contrary to law, contrary to religion, contrary to universal human rights.
- Russian troops have stolen 19,000 Ukrainian children and relocated them to schools or camps in Russia or Russian-controlled territory.
- Russian troops and officials have unjustly imprisoned and tortured Ukrainians in Russian-occupied territory in a gulag of more than 100 prisons and informal detention facilities.
- Russia’s unjust war has squandered soft power and cultural capital, creating new, necessary, stronger, wiser opposition internationally.
- Russia admits a labor shortage of hundreds of thousands; other sources estimate a labor shortage of 1.5 million.
- Inflation has risen in Russia to 9.5%; interest rates have risen even further to 21%.
- Russian freedom has collapsed. Russians may not speak truly or freely about the war. Because “one word of truth outweighs the world” (as Solzhenitsyn said), Russians are now nearly sequestered from truth.
But as the reality of mourning and death hits home, it must be obvious to the ordinary Russian that the incalculable cost of the war has greatly exceeded any purported justification or benefit. And if Russian leadership refuses a reasonable and just peace now, then it is making itself an obvious enemy not only of the world, but also of the Russian people themselves. Simply put, to heal Russia and Ukraine—as anyone in the healing professions (or writing, truth-speaking professions) can see—Russia must withdraw from Ukraine, enabling peace.
As with any nation, if Russia still aspires to greatness, it must act with greater integrity. If it desires any authentic or lasting victory, it must seek authentic peace. The simple peace sketched here would enable Russia—and Ukraine—to declare victory. To declare an end to war. To save countless lives from future loss.
Let us then pray, with the angels, for a just “peace on earth.” (Luke 2:14)
Let us pray with Zechariah for “light to those who sit in darkness and in the shadow of death, to guide our feet into the way of peace.” (Luke 1:79)
Acting, then, in accordance with all our prayers:
“We shall find peace.
We shall hear the angels.
We shall see the sky
sparkling with diamonds.”
–Anton Chekhov, Uncle Vanya
“All wars take place because of the acquisition of property, and property we are compelled to acquire simply because of the body—we are slaves in its service; and so, for all these reasons, we have no time for philosophy.”
–Plato, Phaedo (tr. R.S. Bluck)
