Among those who have noted European anger over Russian President Vladimir Putin’s invasion of Ukraine are Russian restaurants and Russian-speaking schoolchildren.
Since Russian tanks entered Ukraine on February 24, the famous Russian restaurant Skamiejka in the Polish capital of Warsaw has received countless hate messages. Posts on the restaurant’s social media show horrific images from the war. Anonymous callers ask the staff to “go to hell from Poland”, even though most of the restaurant’s staff are Ukrainians.
The owner, Tamara Rushminska, displays her solidarity with Ukraine with a yellow and blue flag on the restaurant’s Facebook page, as she begs the public not to vent their frustration with her staff.
– Please remember that Russia and the Russians are not like Putin and his imperialist ideas, writes Roczynska, who has lived in Poland for four decades.
The deputy demanded the deportation of all Russians
Vladimir Putin angered large parts of the world with his decision to invade Ukraine. But ordinary Russians living abroad also noticed this.
British Conservative MP Roger Gill said all Russians in the country should be deported. In Germany, the windows of a Russian store were smashed. One restaurant announced that it would not serve Russian customers, while a doctor refused to treat Russian patients.
Some Germans wrote on social media that the Russians should flee Germany.
– Integration of Russians is not possible, except in the Gulag Archipelago, as stated in one of the publications with reference to the infamous labor camps from the time of Joseph Stalin where millions died.
Schoolchildren are bullied
Russian government spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that there is an “increasing atmosphere of anti-Russian hatred in several Western countries”.
– It’s very dangerous. He said our citizens should be on guard.
In the Czech Republic, the media reported cases of bullying of Russian schoolchildren. Interior Minister Vit Rakosan responded that Russians often live in the Czech Republic because they do not get along with Vladimir Putin.
“They should not be victims of aggression,” Rakosan said.
The Minister of the Interior objected
The situation is also very tense in the Baltic states and Georgia. All of these countries have large Russian-speaking minorities, who moved there, among other things, during the Soviet era.
Lithuanian Interior Minister Agni Belutait visited the coastal city of Klaipeda earlier this week to meet with Russian speakers there. An Orthodox priest said that his parishioners, especially elderly people who do not speak Lithuanian, were very afraid.
“The neighbors started attacking the neighbors, it’s horrible,” the pastor said.
Pelotite made it clear that hatred of Russian speakers will not be tolerated.
In Georgia, real estate agents ask about the nationality of potential tenants. An advertisement for the rent stated that “this apartment is not rented to the attackers. Neither Russians nor Belarusians.”
Yellow and blue painted monument
In the Slovak capital Bratislava, a large World War II memorial in honor of soldiers of the Soviet Red Army is painted in the yellow and blue of the Ukrainian flag.
The Russian embassy in Bratislava called it “sabotage”, while the Slovak Foreign Ministry said it was a gesture to call for an end to “this absurd war”.
In Norway, too, harsh statements against the general Russian people drew attention. A tour host in Sogn made it clear that he did not want to receive Russian guests.
Save the Children has warned of harassment of children and youth of Russian origin, while the Ministry of Education has asked all higher education institutions in the country to be aware of reports of harassment against Russian staff and students.
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