Russian restaurants in the U.S. were vandalized, and some owners received bomb threats as a result of Russia’s increasing war in Ukraine.
Ike Gazaryan (owner of the Pushkin restaurant downtown San Diego) stated in a telephone interview that two people had threatened to blow it up. The threats began shortly after the invasion started.
He said, “At first, I thought it was isolated incidents.” “But I have received about 20 calls and people leaving messages at our door,” he said.
He said that his family was called “disgusting Russian porks”.
“People are just ignorant,” Gazaryan said. He is Armenian and has lived in Russia for four year. He has been a restaurateur in America for 24 years, and he said that he supports the war effort in Ukraine.
Gazaryan stated, “We are on the same side.”
The Russia House restaurant in Washington, D.C. was twice vandalized in the days following the invasion. NBC affiliate WRCTV reported that the windows were broken and graffiti “anti-Russian” writings were spray-painted.
According to Victoria Pardini (a program associate at The Kennan Institute at Wilson Center), a non-profit policy research organization, Russian restaurant owners and New Yorkers are being seen as guilty of war crimes because they own Russian restaurants.
As Russia’s unprovoked attack against Ukraine draws to a close, hundreds of civilians have been killed and more 2 million have fled to neighbouring countries.
Pardini stated that it was easy to think of all Russians as supporting the Kremlin or Vladimir Putin’s policies.
She stated that many of the vandalized restaurants were owned by Russian and Ukrainian immigrants who had lived in the United States for some time and have nothing to do the war.
Pardini stated that it was a misdirection of frustration and confusion about what’s going on in Ukraine.
Valentin Tsalko (28), also blames the recent attacks on his Texas restaurant for a lack of understanding.
Tsalko, the owner of Taste of Europe Arlington, stated that “everyone is really misinformed”. “That’s precisely why.”
The restaurant serves Eastern European cuisines and has been subject to a series of vandalism threats, a flood of calls for closure, and poor reviews online.
New York’s Russian Tea Room announced on its website, that it was standing in solidarity with Ukraine.
The Tea Room “renounces Russia’s unprovoked war acts in the strongest possible terms”, the restaurant said. It did not respond to a request of comment. “The history of the NY institution has been deeply rooted in fighting against communist dictatorships and for democracy for 95 years. We stand with the Ukrainian people and against Putin.
