Abrikosov

I am convinced that it is useless to help science in Russia. You can raise the wages of scientists, but you cannot bring them instruments and equipment. Today there is only one way to maintain Russian science: To help all the talented scientists leave Russia and to ignore the rest.

— A. A. Abrikosov, Interview in New York Times, July 21 1993

My response in New York Times was:

Dr. Abrikosov’s suggestion to the West is «to help all the talented scientists to leave Russia and to ignore the rest.» This smells like Stalinism! Stalin entertained himself by moving whole nations around the empire. But what about those who love Russia, those who would rather share the troubles of their country than leave it, those who feel responsible for the laboratories and the institutes they lead and those simply too young to have an international reputation?