Roger Waters Shares His Brutally Honest Thoughts On The Russia-Ukraine War

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Roger Waters did not mince words when he shared his thoughts on Russia's invasion of Ukraine. The former Pink Floyd singer penned an open letter on Facebook after a 19-year-old Ukrainian fan named Alina Mitrofanova wrote a note to him asking why such an outspoken humanitarian has stayed silent while her country gets destroyed.

"I read your letter, I feel your pain, I am disgusted by Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, it is a criminal mistake in my opinion, the act of a gangster, there must be an immediate ceasefire," Waters began his lengthy message. "I regret that Western governments are fueling the fire that will destroy your beautiful country by pouring arms into Ukraine, instead of engaging in the diplomacy that will be necessary to stop the slaughter. Rest assured if all our leaders don’t turn down the rhetoric and engage in diplomatic negotiations there will be precious little of Ukraine left when the fighting is over."

He went on to admit that he feels many world leaders are "gangsters" and even shared a long list of those he believed fit the description. “I will do anything I can to help effect the end of this awful war in your country, anything that is except wave a flag to encourage the slaughter,” he wrote. “That is what the gangsters want, they want us to wave flags. That is how they divide and control us, by encouraging the waving of flags, to create a smokescreen of enmity to blind us to our innate capacity to empathize with one another, while they plunder and rape our fragile planet. I will do everything in my power to help bring peace back to you and your family and your beautiful country.”

In addition to text, Waters also shared the message in a video accompanied with his recent re-recording of Floyd’s anti-war song, “The Gunner’s Dream.”

Read both Mitrofanova's and Waters' full letters below.


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