Dear members of the jury, dear organizers! I am grateful for your choice. As you know, and as I have already written in my open letter, I really wanted this book to be read, and read by the very people on whom something depends. Nevertheless, I don't think that being in a country that is being shelled by Russian missiles that are killing civilians, I can even in this way support a language and culture that formally became (and remains) one of the reasons for the attack on Ukraine - under the pretext of defending it. Just yesterday, Russian missiles shelled Odessa. People died. Tonight, Kiev is on fire.
I grew up, like all of us, on Russian culture (I will not go on about the reasons for the dominance of Russian culture in Kiev and Odessa), I love and continue to love those who are dear to me. But, unfortunately, the Russian aggression against Ukraine, which I consider my homeland, has put me in front of a choice, it is not an easy choice for me, but it is mine. The fact that the Russian language and culture suffered such a terrible defeat is probably the fault of all of us, and we are all paying for it - each in our own way.
I was really hoping I wouldn't have to write this. I'm sorry that an award that was meant to be a good endeavor can unwittingly become the cause of a media scandal. I know that the winner is rewarded with translations into European languages - I would love to see my book translated into them. This is not only a normal vanity of the author, but also a desire to tell people about the terrible price we pay for other people's political ambitions. But perhaps I will be heard that way.
I do not believe that the book “Near War” has any extraordinary artistic merit. I believe that the jury's choice is most likely justified by the political moment - and, to some extent, by sympathy for Ukraine. Ukraine needs not so much sympathy as active help, but that is another matter. The jury, from my point of view, made a political choice. But any political choice within a Literary Prize can lead to all sorts of consequences.
I'm a very soft person. I have always been afraid of offending someone, of causing someone's discontent. But I observe and continue to observe how language and culture are being turned into a subject of political manipulation. Moreover, the language issue is being used to sway the situation inside Ukraine. That is why I will risk displeasing the high jury and refuse the award. Everything that I think about the current situation within Russian culture is in my open letter. This letter of mine is written in Russian, probably one of the few opportunities to use the language within which I have existed for most of my life.

Maria Galina