AMSTERDAM ¨C Just days after the invasion of Ukraine, Olga Smirnova, one of Russia¡¯s most important ballerinas, posted an emotional statement on Telegram, the messaging app. ¡°I am against war with all the fibers of my soul,¡± she wrote.
¡°I never thought I would be ashamed of Russia,¡± she added, ¡°but now I feel that a line has been drawn that separates the before and the after.¡±
That¡¯s certainly been true for Smirnova, 30. As the war got worse, and dissent in Russia was ruthlessly quashed, Smirnova, who had gone to Dubai to recover from a knee injury, realized that she could no longer return home. ¡°If I were to go back to Russia, I would have to completely change my opinion, the way I felt about the war,¡± Smirnova said in a recent interview in Amsterdam, adding that returning would be, ¡°quite frankly, dangerous.¡±
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