I am as contemptuous as anyone of the Putin regime and everything they represent, above all their barbaric folly in invading Ukraine. But I am nonetheless offended to read articles like this, full of stereotypic and malicious generalizations about "the Russians." I know how I feel when I read articles that slam "the Americans" in similar broad strokes of contempt, even when much of what they say is entirely accurate for many Americans (especially Trumpers).

Nevertheless, the minute you put the definite article, "the" in front of any ethnic, national, religious, or gender-based category, you are guilty of stereotyping, and thereby sowing blind hatred for an entire category of people. And that is Step 1 toward genocidal ideation. This problem can be alleviated by using qualifying terms like "many" or "often" or even "tend to" when referring to national character, but I see no such qualifiers in this piece. Prior to this, I thought much better of you.