British-French author Philippe Sands has said he was told it is “unacceptable” to read the work of Russian writer Leo Tolstoy amid the country’s invasion of Ukraine.
Sands is a lawyer and the author of bestselling books such as The Ratline and The Last Colony. In 2016, his memoir East West Street: On the Origins of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity won the Baillie Gifford Prize for Non-Fiction.
The 64-year-old appeared on a panel at the 2025 Hay Festival, which has partnered with The Independent for a second year. He was joined by Swedish philanthropist Sigrid Rausing, academic Adam Rutherford, and The Independent’s chief international correspondent Bel Trew.
Responding to Rausing’s concerns over “how far Ukraine is going to go” in retaliating against the Russian invasion, Sands said: “I’ve got no objection to that. I’ve got no objection to them targeting Russian bridges.”
He continued: “The issue I’ve found in Kyiv and in other places in Ukraine is I want to read a short story by Tolstoy and I’m told I can’t do that because it’s unacceptable.”
Russian novelist Tolstoy, who died in 1910, was the author of seminal books including War and Peace (1967) and Anna Karenina (1878). The latter was adapted into a critically acclaimed film starring Greta Garbo in 1935, and was again put on screen in Joe Wright’s 2012 film starring Keira Knightley.
“It’s an issue right now because [Ukrainians] are feeling very beleaguered,” said Sands. “On the other hand there are people who say, ‘No, absolutely there are many good Russian writers, and many good Russian people…’ so that is complex.”
Sands added: “But in terms of going into the Russian side, absolutely. They’ve got to defend themselves.”
Their discussion comes in light of news that at least seven people have been killed and dozens more injured after bridges collapsed in separate incidents across Russia.
Moscow Railways initially blamed the collapse in the Bryansk region, which borders Ukraine, on “illegal interference in the operation of transport”, in a likely reference to Ukrainian saboteurs, but the Telegram post was later removed.
Prominent Russian military blogger Semyon Pegov, who uses the name War Gonzo, called it “sabotage”.
Both reports could not be independently verified. There was no immediate comment from Ukraine.
A second bridge collapsed hours later when a freight train was crossing a bridge in the Kursk region early on Sunday (1 June), according to a local governor, causing a similar derailment.
Russia’s Investigative Committee said on Sunday that the two bridges collapsed due to explosions.
In a third separate incident, a prominent Ukrainian partisan group claimed responsibility for an attack on relay systems in occupied Donetsk oblast, which stopped movement on a new Russian rail line.
Russia has been hit by dozens of sabotage attacks since Moscow launched its offensive against Ukraine in 2022, with many targeting its vast railroad network. Kyiv said railroads are targeted because they are used to transport troops and weaponry to the Ukraine war.
Follow along with updates on Ukraine-Russia at The Independent’s live blog here.
Elsewhere during the panel, Sands, a visiting professor of law at Harvard Law School, said that reports of “rampant antisemitism” at the prestigious university are “complete nonsense”.
