British-French author Philippe Sands has said he was told it is “unacceptable” to read the work of Russian writer Leo Tolstoy amid Russia’s invasion of Ukraine.
Sands is a lawyer and the author of bestselling books including 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 (1869) and Anna Karenina (1878). The latter has been the subject of numerous film adaptations, including a critically acclaimed version starring Greta Garbo in 1935, and Joe Wright’s 2012 adaptation 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.”
He added: “But in terms of going into the Russian side, absolutely. [Ukraine have] got to defend themselves.”
The discussion came in light of the news that at least seven people had been killed and dozens more injured when 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 its Telegram post was later removed.
Prominent Russian military blogger Semyon Pegov, who uses the name War Gonzo, called it “sabotage”.
Neither report could 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 had collapsed following explosions.
In a third, separate incident, a prominent Ukrainian partisan group claimed responsibility for an attack on relay systems in the occupied Donetsk province, which brought a new Russian rail line to a standstill.
Russia has been hit by dozens of sabotage attacks since Moscow launched its offensive against Ukraine in 2022, with many targeting its vast rail network. Kyiv said railways are targeted because they are used to transport troops and weapons for deployment in the war.
You can follow updates on the Ukraine-Russia war in The Independent’s live blog.
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”.
