It is profoundly ironic that those who react to the war in Ukraine by canceling “everything Russian” are reflecting the same kind of nationalist thinking driving the Russian invasion in the first place. Mr. Putin legitimates his war as an attempt to “save” Russians in Ukraine and reunite them with the Russian Federation. For him, there can be only one Russian culture and it can have only one homeland. Yet most Russians in Ukraine have no desire for Mr. Putin’s “salvation” — and a great many have taken up arms to resist it. They have a different homeland. Now that is a demonstration of a distinct Russian culture.

In Mr. Putin’s view, the only place Russian identity and culture — like Russian people — are safe is under the Russian state — any territory in which Russians reside must therefore belong to the Russian Federation, and any Russian who rejects the “protection” of the Russian state is a national traitor.

Yet a spirit of resistance pulses through the work of many artists throughout the global diaspora who are creating art, music, film, literature and dance and who have been fleeing the Russian Federation at an increasing pace since the invasion and occupation of Crimea in 2014.