A message of hope from the free world to those living under Putin's tyranny
Dear People of Russia,
We offer our hands to you in friendship.
Not to Putin and his cronies who oppress you and start pointless wars with your brothers and sisters in Ukraine and use force and misinformation to maintain the appearance of support while sending your own men to die for his own ambitions.
We offer our friendship to you the people, regardless of your leaders.
You come from an incredible legacy - we think of Tchaikovsky moving people to tears, Tolstoy showing us the depths of the human heart, and Gagarin daring to reach for the stars. You rebuilt from the ashes of devastating wars, worked with us to turn the tide against fascism, and you've shown incredible strength through everything life has thrown at you.
It is painful to see how Putin is stealing your future and your children's future, not to mention the destruction he brings to Ukraine, and we want to show you a better alternative.
You might think change is impossible. But look at what just happened in Syria this month - Assad, Putin's friend, finally lost power when rebels overthrew him in a lightning rebellion, because the protection formerly offered him by Putin was no longer enough. As I write this in December 2024, Assad and his family are hiding in Moscow, protected by Putin, while ordinary Syrians are celebrating in the streets, finally free to live their lives without fear. This keeps happening - dictators who seemed untouchable yesterday are gone tomorrow, and regular people get their lives back.
Imagine a Different Russia
Imagine being able to speak your mind without fear, to read any news you want, to travel anywhere without restrictions. Imagine starting a business knowing your success depends on your hard work, not on bribing officials. Imagine your kids growing up able to choose their own path in life - whether that's studying in Moscow, Paris, Berlin, or New York. Imagine voting in elections where your vote actually matters, where you have real choices, not just Putin's pre-selected candidates and token "opposition" he selected also.
We live this life every day, and we want you to have it too.
When we disagree with our governments, we can say so openly, vote for an alternative, even stand as an alternative against our own leaders.
When we want to know what's really happening in the world, we can read any newspaper or website, even those our leaders don't like.
When we have a business idea, we can pursue it without paying bribes.
Our kids can dream big, knowing their opportunities aren't limited by government restrictions or international sanctions.
Even Russian citizens living in the West enjoy more freedom here than they do in Russia, not to mention prosperity.
The Cost of Putin's Rule
You deserve better than living in fear. Better than watching your savings disappear to sanctions. Better than seeing your children's opportunities shrink while the world moves forward. You deserve to live in a country where your talents and hard work matter more than your connections to power.
You deserve to live in a country which doesn't start and prolong pointless wars, bombing apartment blocks, hospitals and civilian infrastructure, causing regular citizens - men, women, and children - to freeze and struggle to live normal lives.
But Putin keeps taking, destroying, controlling.
Since the war in Ukraine began, you can't even call it a war without risking arrest. You can't post freely on social media. You can't even hold up a blank piece of paper in protest. He's not just taking your freedom - he's taking your children's lives. Russian soldiers are dying at five times the rate of Ukrainians in this senseless war. These aren't just numbers - these are your sons, your brothers, your friends, dying for Putin's dreams of empire while his own children live safely in luxury abroad, and he lives in palaces paid for by your hard work.
The corruption of Putin's party of crooks and thieves has led to the mighty Russian army struggling even against Ukraine. Imagine how completely the Russian Army Putin built would fail against any one of the leading powers in the West, let alone a united front. NATO hasn't even set foot in Ukraine, only sent support and training!
What Putin foolishly thought would be a short "special military operation" as his troops marched unopposed into Kiev in a few days has turned into a humiliation for your nation as a much smaller and poorer nation resisted and turned back Putin's forces, reclaiming about half of the land he tried to take. Putin laughably ran sham referendums and "annexed" even more land he has no hope of occupying, but it changes nothing - he controls less of those lands now than he did when he "annexed" them against the will of their citizens.
Where Putin prevails on the battlefield, it is only through throwing more meat into the grinder, with wave after wave of conscripts forced to attack defenders, eventually overwhelming with the sheer number of their own dead bodies. In November 2024, Putin gained 1200 sq km of Ukrainian land at a cost of 45,000 Russian casualties - that's three casualties for every area the size of Red Square. If he keeps doing this, just to occupy the "annexed" regions would cost 1.5-1.8 million Russian casualties (not to mention the Ukrainian casualties!).
The courage of Ukrainians in defending their sovereign nation - a courage your own ancestors showed against Hitler - proves that a people united in fighting for their freedom cannot be defeated, no matter the size of the force against them. Their example shows what's possible when people decide they've had enough of tyranny.
He's doing this for the same empire-building reasons Hitler had in the 1940s. It's ironic that he's pretending to fight the "Nazis" in Ukraine while his own agenda is so similar to that of the Nazi party. In "The Great Patriotic War", which we know as World War Two, you were one of the "good guys". Putin has trampled that reputation, and it's his forces who are the "Nazis" in this war.
We're not afraid of a strong Russia - we're excited about it. We want Russia to be strong enough to break free from Putin's rule, and never to allow itself to be subjugated by such a leader again.
In fact, we're more afraid of the weak Russia Putin has created now, because a weak country with a desperate, corrupt army, ruled by a fearful autocrat surrounded by thieves, who all want to defend their stolen wealth and personal power at any cost, who has a massive nuclear arsenal is a threat to the entire world, not least because any use of that arsenal will cause devastating retaliation (and yet, a weak Putin grasping his dying power may have nothing left to lose, even if we all do).
A Vision of Tomorrow
We would love to see a strong, free, open Russia, with real elections, as a part of Europe, as an equal with other great nations, and with proud Russians building a great future alongside a sovereign, proud Ukraine. We in the West will help rebuild the ties between your nations, damaged by Putin's war, because we know both peoples deserve peace and prosperity. In fact, we would love to see Russia as a leading member of Europe - we would all be stronger together.
We want to work with you, learn from you, travel to your cities and welcome you in ours, do business with you, and build a better future together. And we want to share our knowledge, prosperity, freedom, and future with you.
It is possible!
Look at how ordinary Germans transformed their country in the 1950s and beyond - they kept their culture and identity while building one of the world's strongest economies, and their people live in freedom. They rebuilt their nation within a decade of their defeat, and changed completely from their Nazi past.
You could do the same, your way, even without waiting for Putin to lead you into inevitable, costly defeat.
Every time you share real news with friends, every time you find ways to speak truth, every time you imagine a better future - you're building the foundation of your freedom.
Like the Syrian people found their courage this month, you'll find yours - and by doing so, you'll help millions of Ukrainians regain theirs, and remove the need for the defensive shield of NATO.
And when you do, you'll discover millions of friends out here ready to help.
Standing with you for your freedom,
Your friends in the free world
P.S. I know you probably can't reply to this letter, but millions of us out here are cheering for you. We're ready to welcome you, work with you, and build connections with you - whenever you're ready to take your future back.
