The Morrill Memorial Library welcomes local tech COO Dmitri Yakovlev for an in-person presentation, "Putin's War: His Motives, Claims, and Lies," on Thursday, August 1 starting at 7:00pm in the Simoni Room.

Dmitri Yakovlev, a Muscovite who wholeheartedly supports Ukraine in her fight for freedom, argues that if we don't support Ukraine, the conflict soon may become the whole world's problem--because Putin does not want this war to end. Looking back at world history, he asks: Should the world have negotiated with Hitler? Chamberlain did... and what came of it? In this presentation, you will learn the story of Putin's rise to power and learn interesting facts about Russian propaganda and politics. Audience members will be invited to participate in a Q&A.

About the presenter: Dmitri is COO and co-founder of local high-tech company supporting schools and school communities, and works with a web development team in Ukraine. Since Putin's war started, Dmitri has been helping raise funds for Ukraine to purchase power generators for local maternity and psychiatric hospitals (since Russia is bombing Ukraine's infrastructure to leave citizens without power or heat). In 1991, Dmitri spent two nights on the barricades in Moscow streets standing up for democracy during the coup-d'etat attempt. He is a dual citizen of Russia and the USA, living here since 1993. He has family in the USA, Russia, and Ukraine. Dmitri was in Moscow on the day Putin started the war and saw, firsthand, the reaction of Muscovites: the unrest, the protests, the panic, the ugly support for Putin and his war.

This program is generously supported by the Friends of the Morrill Memorial Library. To learn more about our Friends, click HERE.

Registration is required for this in-person program. Please register using the form below, or by calling the Reference Desk at 781-769-0200 x2.