Putin

About 3 1/2 years ago my wife and I visited in Helsinki, Estonia and Latvia, and it is with great sadness that we witness the Russian invasion of Ukraine. The ugliness of Russian dominion over neighbors is tragic. The pattern among oligarchs is to strip assets from their own people and to then launder their ill-gotten gains and invest them abroad for their further enrichment, so we hope that sanctions will have some affect.

In Latvia we visited the KGB museum in a building that actually served as the headquarters of the KGB, the network of Soviet secret Police that were used to bring the Latvian populace under Russian control. Their remembrance of KGB horrors remains vivid. And we can know Putin by knowing the KGB. The KGB provided the platform for his ascent to power. In the short term, things are unlikely to go well for Ukraine. In the long term, people will remember who Putin is and with luck will hold him personally accountable.

Entering the KGB museum you are met by a Russian guard (a living history actor who had actually served as a Russian prison guard, during the Soviet occupation of Riga). His harsh demeanor toward all guests as he matter of factly describes what went on within the walls of the former KGB headquarters leaves a strong taste of what it was actually like. The photos and video interviews with victims of the KGB and the visit to the killing spot where Latvian citizens were executed will leave you chilled, as will the prison room where more than a hundred victims were confined naked, crowded in to the point where they lay massed in filth.

Authorities in Latvia and Estonia have called for the NATO article 4 to be discussed. Article 4 requires that when one NATO nation is attacked all others must come to its aid.

If you want to know more about what Ukraine is facing in areas that the Russians occupy a visit to the KGB museum would be informative. The image shows our (former) Russian guard in the area where Latvian patriots and common citizens were murdered by the KGB.