30 APRIL 1994, Page 28

Lost for words

Sir: It was only from the excellent, if a little too charitable, article by Dr Mark Almond that I learned about Sir Peter Ustinov's indulgent views of labour camps (Teter Ustinov is not funny any more', 23 April). But I have My Russia, by Sir Peter, and found his sycophancy to Soviet rulers revolting. But now that I, a former Gulag inmate, know about his more recent pro- nouncements, I see that my English vocab- ulary is not yet sufficient to express my feel- ings towards that old clown.

Leonid Vladimirov

25 Wesley Square, London W11