"Sometimes a writer can be an idiot". Mariusz Szczygieł chides Paolo Coelho for his tweet on Ukraine

A comment published on Twitter on March 11 by Brazilian writer Paolo Coelho: "Ukraine crisis a convenient excuse for Russophobia", has met with a strong backlash online. Many people have lectured the writer that using a euphemism "crisis" in the context of Russia's invasion into Ukraine was inappropriate. "It is not the Ukrainian Crisis, it is called Ukrainian GENOCIDE" - one person tweeted. Other users posted images and videos from Ukraine showing bestiality of the Russian forces.

In response to unfavourable comments, Coelho tried to save face by saying he had been to "Lvov, Kyiv, Odessa, Yalta, Chernobyl (Ukraine)" and "crossed 10.000 km by train, Moscow to Vladivostok (Russia)". "Yes, there is a war: but don’t blame the common people" - said the author of the Manual of the Warrior of Light.

Polish writer and journalist Mariusz Szczygieł joined the choir of critics of Coelho's tweet. "The guy gets millions of dollars for telling obvious facts about life, which someone has to tell, especially to young people. I've nothing against that. Let him earn his money. Let the kids absorb that 'One is loved because one is loved'; 'It's the possibility of having a dream come true that makes life interesting'; 'There is always someone in the world waiting for someone else'... Everyone is bound to discover these elementary truths at some point in their lives, and somebody has to write them" - the journalist wrote.

He added that Coelho's tweet "proves that either the most famous writer of the globe hasn't done his homework, or has been smitten by Putin". Szczygieł attached a photo of Coelho with the Russian president.

Szczygieł compared Coelho's tweet to a situation in which in September of 1939, a popular author would write that "Poland crisis is a convenient excuse for Germanophobia".

"Unfortunately Mr Coelho, sometimes a writer can be an idiot, and his thought is sh.., rather than gold..." - Szczygieł concluded.