Should I boycott the Russians?

The boycott of athletes is justified by the fact that their world successes distort the image of Russia as a global bandit. Russia is working hard on this image, among other things, murdering Ukrainian children. And it is her sovereign decision. But not all Russians are bandits.

As a military doctor, I was taught that I was to help my wounded, but also aliens - hostile ones. In the 1970s, as an officer in the Warsaw Pact army, I was a scholarship holder of the United States Navy and no one hid my knowledge from me. The principle was the same. If there was any confrontation, we doctors are not here to beat each other, but to treat those who will not fight anymore and now only fight to survive. Moreover, there is not much of whom to boycott. The Russian government is effectively protecting Russian doctors from playing an international role and also from contacting us. This was the case in the times of the USSR and it is so today. Rather, we could use some contacts. Unfortunately, my only good Russian friend - a peer and pioneer of bone marrow transplantation in Russia: Boris Afanasyev is no longer alive.

Moreover, it is unlikely that doctors support this war and there is no point in pushing them into Putin's arms with a boycott. On the other hand, it must be remembered that no matter how the current war ends, Russia will remain and you will have to deal with it somehow, and somehow communicate with it before that, and possibly neutral paths of agreement should be maintained.