BBC man lays bare the folly of Putin’s war

I read BBC Russia Editor Steve Rosenberg’s article in The Mail on Sunday last week with great interest, as to how life in Moscow has morphed into a shadowy facsimile of its once-vibrant self.

I felt for his innate pain and this abrupt dislocation from the West, at the behest of one man and his sycophantic generals, all in the name of an ideological fantasy. It’s an absolute tragedy with loss of life and the senseless destruction of people’s homes.

Judith Daniels, Great Yarmouth, Norfolk

What a great article by Rosenberg. Such understanding of the situation would, I think, make him an ideal candidate for a desperately needed peace negotiator. Alan Courtis, Hanworth, Middlesex

Steve Rosenberg has pretty much hit the nail on the head. Putin brutally controls freedom of speech and this is why Russia will not get rid of him. They simply don’t know the real situation. G. Stewart,

Mablethorpe, Lincolnshire

Who would ever think that in the 21st Century we would still have madmen around desperately trying to increase Russian influence with bombs and blood. The EU is a shining example of what can be achieved. Sure, the EU has its faults, but it has stopped bloodshed within Europe for three generations. Moscow could learn something from this.

S. Harris, London

It breaks my heart to see so many freedoms and frivolities stripped away by one regime’s sick and twisted vision. Ukraine is under military attack from the Russian government, but Russian people are under psychological attack from their own government.

O. Scott, Wiltshire

In due course, the average

Russian will see just what Putin has done. They will wake up to a world that is totally at war with Putin and that they are paying the price of his insane ambition and military action.

S. Ford, Abingdon

Russia is not the only place where free speech is vanishing. It has been eroded in this country as well. It’s all done to control the masses while the rich and powerful can do as they please. The common person does not want a war, and I bet many in Russia feel the same.

John Olson, London

If he really wants to do the world a favour while he’s in Moscow, couldn’t the amiable Rosenberg

– a highly accomplished pianist – arrange an audience with President Putin and honour him with a recital of suitably ambient music? Remaining bellicose in such circumstances would be nigh-on impossible. We’ve tried just about everything else.

Vincent Hefter, Richmond