In Russia, people have started killing each other over Ukraine. Two men in Kaluga got drunk and started arguing over the invasion of Ukraine. One of the men ended up killing his interlocutor.
Writers, musicians, artists in Russia are writing open letters either in support or in condemnation of the invasion. The aggression against Ukraine is splitting the Russian society and pitching people against each other.
It’s hard as it is to keep the citizens of the multi-ethnic, multi-religious and multi-linguistic Russian Federation from jumping at each other’s throats every two seconds, and Putin’s actions are contributing to existing animosities and creating new ones.
Clarissa's Blog 
Forgive me, professora, but aren’t we talking about a country where one man shot another over an argument about the philosophy of Immanuel Kant?
What I’m saying is, we have a narrative:
Two men in [insert city] got drunk and started arguing over [something]. One of the men ended up killing his interlocutor.
How often does this happen in Russia, and how often is it really tied to the crisis in Ukraine?
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Patrick Allen Foster: yes, I know, these guys would have beaten each other up anyway but it’s still sad.
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Yes it is. No argument here.
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Dear Mr. Patrick Allen Foster (maybe not a professor?),
Please read attentively what Clarissa has written:
Two men in Kaluga got drunk and started arguing over the invasion of Ukraine.
Shooting people happens everywhere, unfortunately, dear non-professor. But the case Clarissa is referring to relates to Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and shooting on purely political grounds. I don’t think one has to be a professor to understand such simple things.
Hopefully, this helps.
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Dear Dr. Blekhman,
Did you interpret the third word of my comment to indicate a mocking tone or disrespect toward Clarissa? That was not my intent, and if that is the impression that I conveyed, then I regret my compositional choice. I know from reading the blog that Clarissa is a professor of Hispanic Literature, and I intended the academic title as a term of respect.
And, you are correct: I am not a professor. I’m not sure what that has to do with anything.
You are also correct that shootings happen everywhere, for all sorts of reasons. It was for this very purpose that I was skeptical of the utility of looking to one shooting in Kaluga as evidence of a wider trend.
Clarissa’s next paragraph is much better at illustrating that Putin’s invasion of Ukraine has divided Russian society:
Writers, musicians, artists in Russia are writing open letters either in support or in condemnation of the invasion.
That Putin’s invasion has divided that society and elevated tensions I do not dispute.
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We are all good people here, my friends. Putin is the evildoer.
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A long time ago I read an excellent story about some Zimbabwe guys sitting around a fire smoking mbanje and drinking kachasu. Then they got into an argument about politics and the one guy left. Suddenly his friend, who had remained, saw a ghost, and fired his gun at it. It turned out to be his friend, who was now dead.
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