When war becomes a reality, time is of the essence. Slow political responses raise questions about underlying reasons for reluctance. And as Russia wages war on Ukraine, how the situation is described at distance also matters. How can Putin’s position be pulled back from the black hole of media and political acquiescence? In a recent Le Monde article, Dr. Marie Mendras aptly reminded us that the much-talked about ‘Ukraine crisis’ is by no means ‘Ukrainian’ but first and foremost ‘Russian’. It is ‘Russian’ not only in purely factual terms — insofar as it was instigated and amplified to its current disastrous scale by the Russian political leadership. It is ‘Russian’ also in philosophical terms — insofar as it reflects the