Letters to the Editor

To the Editor,

Your expanded March issue was excellent. Articles like the lead on Russian women, which provide historical perspectives on current problems, are especially helpful. The description of Dr. Kriminetskaya’s charitable foundation (and the cooperative program between Savior’s and Magee-Women’s Hospitals noted in the second article) prompted this letter and the suggestion which follows.

In view of the widely publicized corruption among the apparatchiki (and the so-called ‘Russian mafia’), there are grounds for the suspicion that much of Western aid to Russia is diverted to illegal ends. I imagine that many of your readers, like myself, would make at least modest contributions to legitimate Russian charities if they were confident that their donations would reach their destination and be fully used for their intended purposes.