In his article “The shadows of war” (House & Home, April 2) Robin Lane Fox clarifies that sunflowers — the symbol used to show solidarity with Ukraine — actually are not native to the besieged nation, and were in fact introduced by Russia. Therefore, he suggests that they should not be used to show support for Ukraine.

I think that is exactly why we should use them. This Eurasian version of The Mahabharata, that is pitting brother against brother, serves a solitary ego that sits in the Kremlin, and does not represent the will of the Russian people. And by using a symbol that depicts the shared humanity of innocent citizens on either side of this situation, maybe we could acknowledge that fact.

Mukul Sheopory
Mountain View, CA, US