Alexei—
Please remember: Putin is not Russia, any more than Hitler was Germany or Trump is the USA. All these malignantly charismatic monsters are archetypes of the Jungian “Shadow” manifesting itself And every culture on the planet has its “Shadow”— its capacity for pure evil and primordial horror—as well as its capacity for profound beauty, refinement, and insight. (Dostoyevsky knew all about this!)

Besides, if you turn your back on your Russian cultural identity, Putin wins, for you have let him define what it means to be Russian! Don’t give him that satisfaction. Rather, like the German emigrants who fled Hitler to the US, band together with your countrymen to join the Resistance, and take Russia back from Putin and his gang of thugs who have hijacked your homeland.