As a historian researching Irish connections with Russia in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, who has visited Russia many times in connection with my research, I am horrified by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. I express my solidarity with the people of Ukraine, who have a right to self-determination, democracy and peace. I also stand with Russians – both in Russia itself and living around the world – who oppose the unlawful and brutal actions of Putin and his military in Ukraine, and his stifling of free speech and gagging of independent news and media outlets within Russia itself.