Cases of Russophobia involving Russians and their foreign-based property since March 2022

1. The Lomonosov Russian-German school in Berlin was set on fire. Firefighters received a call about the entry door to the gym being on fire late at night. No casualties were reported.

The firefighters and local media said it was arson. “We do not rule out the possibility that it is related to the events in Ukraine, but we have been unable to confirm this so far,” the law enforcement agencies said.

2. On the night of March 7, a bottle filled with flammable liquid was hurled at the Rossotrudnichestvo office in Paris. Miraculously, no fatalities were reported. The French authorities remain silent.

3. The degree of madness is on the rise. In Ireland, a delusional person rammed the gates of the Russian embassy to the joyful cheer of the crowd. When arrested, he said it was time “for the rest of Ireland to do their bit.”

4. In Britain, vandals ransacked the Russian Orthodox St Nicholas the Wonderworker Church in Oxford. The thieves turned the place upside down and stole valuables and money that parishioners donated to help Ukrainian refugees.

5. This is what they do to Russian grocery stores in Germany: break windows and splatter the walls with paint.

6. Here’s what Inna from Canada writes: Personally, I have not seen anything of that sort. So far, they have just been hating all things Russian. For example, the doors of the Russian Orthodox Church were splattered with red paint.

7. You can lose your business over selling Russian-made products in Europe.

In early March, they showed one way to do so in the town of Oberhausen, North Rhine-Westphalia where a Kauver store (a chain of supermarkets) that took the risk of selling foods from Russia had its window smashed and its front wall splattered with paint.

This is not the first act of violence of that kind in this German town. The local media reported earlier that phrases like “Free Ukraine” and “Putin the Killer” were painted on the supermarket windows. Local police called these attacks “politically motivated crimes” which are being investigated by federal law enforcement.

8. Russians can now be hated on social media. Officially.

Facebook and Instagram made it possible for their users to issue open threats to the Russian military and call for their death. Meta, the parent company of Facebook and Instagram, said “we have temporarily made allowances for forms of political expression that would normally violate our rules like violent speech.”

The Russian Embassy in the United States has in turn accused the company of extremist activities.

9. “You will have your throat cut”

Truly harrowing words were spoken to a resident of the UK. The woman is originally from Latvia, and runs a small business, a Russian bathhouse, in the UK. Her clients are Russians and many Russian-speaking Brits. That is why she received this threat.

First, she started receiving phone calls. Then, a man left a voicemail saying she was going to get her throat cut because of her business. The woman was frightened and let the police know about the threat.

“My clients and me, we are angry because it's not acceptable,” she said. “There are many people in this country who speak Russian. You can't be so xenophobic. It really must be stopped.”

10. “Most messages say that I deserve to die just because I'm Russian.” The thousands-strong community of Russians and Russian-speakers in Belgium has felt the current manifestations of Russophobia to a full extent.

In recent days, community members have received lots of insults and threats. “Most messages say that I deserve to die just because I’m Russian. They say I should be brought to justice, even though I haven’t done anything wrong,” says a lady named Ilena, a community member.

She is horrified at the prospect of not being able to send money to her family in Russia, and that she herself may no longer be able to land a job because of her accent and country of origin. “It is very sad that in a democratic country such as Belgium I do not feel safe anymore. I'm afraid and that's why I have to hide my face and my name.”

11. Not a schoolgirl, but a “Russian communist.”

The setting is Scotland. Local children decided to beat up their Russian classmate and catch it on camera. The video ended up in her mother’ hands and she posted it on Facebook.

According to the woman, her daughter was called a “Russian communist” and was assailed with other insults and threats. However, the girl was not the timid type and fought back. “She wasn’t afraid to leave the school grounds and to defend herself. The only thing I’m afraid of is that next time they will attack her in greater numbers. They told her so. Who is the aggressor now?” the woman wrote. Indeed, who is the aggressor?

12. This one was sent to us from the UK: My sister was comforting her close friend all day because a crowd of strangers surrounded her when she went to the Russian Embassy. They insulted and tried to grab her by the clothes and hands. The police were standing nearby doing nothing. She broke into tears saying she felt like a Jew in Germany in the 1930s.

13. Here’s a social media post by a Bundestag parliamentary from the Alternative for Germany party: “Concerned citizens of this country who find such letters in their mailboxes reach out to me. What more can be said?”

Below the text is a photo of a letter Russians received from Germans.

“Russian bastard, lascivious degenerate, get out of Germany already, help Putin incite violence in a country where he is not. You are Russians, not Germans, no matter what you do here, you cannot be integrated in any way, only by way of the Gulag Archipelago. This is what you need. Pack up and clear out to Moscow."

That’s all there is to say about German tolerance.

14. A sign on the entrance door of a restaurant in Prague: If you are Russian, apologise first and then place your order.

15. Alina writes from the Czech Republic: City of Brno. The restaurant does not serve citizens of the Russian Federation.

16. “We are not allowed to serve Russians.”

This is what a Russian couple heard when checking in at a hotel in Warsaw. The hotel personnel were untroubled by the fact that the room was booked in advance and the lady was expecting a child.

The cynicism of the situation gets even worse since the couple was checking in after helping their Ukrainian friend get to his son. Later, the owner of the hotel issued assurances that they did not have such a ban, and that it was just an unpleasant incident.

Russophobia is on the house.

17. You will get sacked if you don’t criticise Putin.

Not so long ago, the Munich city government refused to work with the famous Russian musician Valery Gergiev. He was the principal conductor of the Munich Philharmonic Orchestra.

Mayor of Munich Dieter Reiter expected Gergiev to criticise the Russian president. “Since this did not happen, the only thing that remains to do is part ways immediately,” the statement read.

Art is free from politics, they said...

18. This was sent from Poland: Hello. I’ve been living in Poland for seven years now. For five years I worked in a company that exported goods to the CIS and did deliveries within the EU. After the special operation began, on February 28, the top boss from the Netherlands came to our main office and handed me a note saying my position was terminated and, accordingly, I was laid off. I tried to convince him to keep my position, because it was not the best time for the job cut and that I was facing a terrible situation, but to no avail. I’m not sure I'll find a job being Russian even with three languages under my belt and with vast experience and a good education. Unfortunately, the word “Russian” has become a stigma, and I am not going to give up my citizenship or ethnic identity.

19. Finnish companies started firing employees with Russian citizenship

The Finnish authorities decided to exercise in Russophobia as the year was coming to an end. Two residents of that country, who have long been residing on its territory, were fired on the grounds of being Russian citizens.

Surprisingly, they were employees of Kela, Finland’s social insurance institution which provided social services to Finns. They were fired after  a “special inspection” carried out by the security service. One of the fired employees was a software engineer. He was born in Moscow but has lived in Finland since the age of 6. His colleague, who also lost her job, has her entire family living in Finland.

Needless to say, the social agency scrambled to justify its move, saying that the reason for the dismissal was not citizenship, but something entirely different, but was unable to say what exactly.

It appears that the reason is different, indeed, and is about “cancelling all things Russian.”

20. Russian speakers in Germany are denied medical help because of the “mentally deranged autocrat.”

Irina Yudina has encountered this kind of discrimination. She is the founder of Medical Munich, a company that helps Russian-speaking patients get access to medical help in Munich and Bavaria. However, now they refuse to provide medical help to Russians in Germany. Yudina recently received an email from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University Hospital (LMU Klinikum) in Munich that surprised her.

The letter informed her that treatment of Russian patients is no longer available “due to the serious violation of international law committed by the clearly mentally deranged autocrat Putin.”

However, on March 4, the German clinic nevertheless came round and said that the letter expressed the personal views of the doctor who drafted and sent it in an emotional state, and it does not represent the official position of that institution. The clinic employee “regrets” this statement and has already apologised to the agency.

21. Russians have no use for the money

That’s the idea bankers in Germany came up with and blocked the option of debit card reloading for their Russian clients. One of the local residents shared his story.

According to him, Deutsche Bank made replenishing the bank card account impossible for its Russian clients. On top of that, money cannot be credited to the card account either by wire transfer or through an ATM. Truth be told, the cardholders can still use the card to make purchases. To spice up life, the bank came up with a quest: cardholders will be able unlock the account only during an in-person visit to a branch and upon presentation of a residence permit (Aufenthaltstitel) that is valid for at least six months. In that case, the card will be unlocked in one or two days. Will they have “Russisches Schwein” embossed on the plastic cards?

22. Russian art in the West has been cancelled

That’s what those who splatter yellow-blue paint on a theatre building of a Russian community in Vancouver believe. According to the theatre officials, they saw it coming. On Twitter, they have already called this manifestation of “love” for Russian culture a disgrace and vandalism.

Is it still a comedy or is it now a tragedy?

23. The cancellation of all things Russian in the West reached the classics of international art

The British Cardiff Orchestra cancelled performances of Tchaikovsky over the situation in Ukraine. The orchestra officials said the earlier planned programme was “inappropriate at the present time.”

I wonder if the British have already drafted personal sanctions on Tchaikovsky.

24. The Montreal Symphony Orchestra cancelled performances by young Russian pianist prodigy Malofeyev. The 20-year-old pianist was supposed to give three concerts with the orchestra, but was unable to do so because of his nationality.

The Ukrainian residents of Montreal demanded the cancelation of performances by the Russian pianist. They sent a lot of angry and threatening letters to the orchestra. They believe Malofeyev is guilty of promoting “Russian culture.”

25. Russian-speaking students in Finland are stigmatised for participating in Russian cultural studies.

An article about this was published by local journalists who had interviewed a number of university students.

Elisabeth Salm, 20, is studying at the University of Jyväskylä to be a Russian language teacher and wanted to become a diplomat. Now, neither Elisabeth herself nor her classmates are sure whether they will be able to work in their field of choice at all and not become victims of Russophobia. The girl says the Russian language and culture have become part of her life.

Senni Toikka, 25, who is studying Russian at the University of Tampere, is in a similar situation.

“I do not want to be ashamed of my specialty, and people’s prejudices and criticism upset me. I understand perfectly well that studying the Russian language is not popular with people at the moment. But I still hope that the language itself will not be demonised,” Senni says.

26. The authorities in Gdansk, Poland, have identified the source of all troubles. It is the Russian Centre for Science and Culture. They decided to close the centre and repossess the building, the deputy mayor told the townspeople on Twitter.

Polish Twitter users thought it was good news, because, in their opinion, it was “a centre of propaganda and fascism.” They also suggested closing Russian embassies and consulates while they are at it. The TV series “Cancellation of all things Russian” continues.

27. Poland authorities threaten to punish anyone who comes to honour the memory of Soviet soldiers

Polish authorities are investigating the installation of a commemorative plaque in honour of Soviet soldiers, Lukasz Golinowski, spokesman for the Glubczyce police in the Opole Voivodeship, said.

In the Polish town of Glubczyce, unidentified individuals installed a memorial plaque on a pedestal where a monument to the Soviet soldier used to stand. On November 1, a poster appeared there reading as follows: “To the Red Army soldiers who died on the Polish land in a battle against Germany and its allies in 1944-1945. Grateful Poles.” The inscription was decorated with a red star.

The Polish prosecutor's office launched an investigation into the incident. The pedestal with the sign is located in the town park.

28. The Riga authorities banned public performance of the song “Katyusha” and called it a “Soviet totalitarian symbol.”

Activists from the Volunteers of Victory and other youth movements did not stay out of it and formulated a response to Riga.

Several dozen young people took part in a spontaneous flash mob near the Latvian embassy in Moscow, where they sang this legendary song all together.

29. In Australia, a talk show guest expressed his opinion about Russia and was asked to leave

Sasha Gillies-Lekakis has Russian roots. During the Q+A programme, he said that he supported Russia's special military operation, adding that Ukraine has killed 13,000 people in Donetsk and Lugansk since 2014.

The audience and the host got uncomfortable hearing the truth. Sasha was asked to leave immediately, and later faced a wave of hate on social media.

30. Another scandal in the world of sports. Of course, the Russians are to blame.

A Russian gymnast won bronze at a competition in Doha and еat the awarding ceremony was wearing an outfit with a letter Z.

After that, he was the target of a wave of hate, and the International Gymnastics Federation turned to the ethics commission with a request to provide its assessment of this “shocking behaviour.”

However, the fighters for justice forgot to mention that the gymnast’s act was a response to numerous provocations by the Ukrainians during the tournament.

31. Famous Czech hockey player calls for “collective responsibility” for supporting Russian athletes

To follow up on the topic of “sport is free from politics,” ex-goalkeeper of the Czech national team and former NHL player Dominik ‘The Dominator’ Hasek said that everyone should be held accountable for supporting Russian athletes. He believes that Russian hockey players should not, for example, be playing in Europe or the United States, because these countries are the land of “freedom” which is reserved for “free” people.

Here is what he wrote on his Twitter:

“There are millions of people around the world who are upset that the NHL, WTA and ATP continue to allow Russian athletes to play and thereby support the crimes ... Everyone will have to pay at once.”

In this regard, one could ask him:

- are these “millions of upset people” with him now? In one room?

- are you that envious of Ovechkin?

- how does Hasek plan to punish himself for playing for the Russian hockey club Spartak in 2010-2011?

32. “Russian-speakers in Germany now have to think not just about equal rights, but also about protecting their lives and health.” This idea was expressed in an article by German publicist Anton Gentzen. According to him, anywhere from 4 to 5 million Germans hailing from Russia (most recent resettlers) and another 1-2 million other migrants from the former Soviet Union live in Germany today. And they are all subjected to unprecedented discrimination.

The German authorities are not bothered with the fact that these millions of people have been living in the country, working and paying taxes for several decades now. But as soon as they tried to express their point of view, they are rebuffed: “Why do you live here, rather than with your Putin? Go there. In addition to equal rights, Russian-speakers in Germany now have to think about protecting their lives and health as well,” Gentzen writes.

Apparently, these people have not yet earned the right to have a point of view of their own in “free Europe.”

33. There were 11,000 Russophobia-related complaints in 2022 alone

In 2022, Russians who live abroad sent exactly that many complaints of harassment and violent attacks. These are the complaints that made it to the Foundation for Supporting and Protecting the Rights of Compatriots Living Abroad.

Importantly, this is almost 25 percent more than last year with about 9,000 complaints.

“At present, we can talk about a sharp increase in the number of violations of the rights of our compatriots due to the unprecedented level of Russophobia in the collective West. Clearly… the pressure on our country as well as Russian compatriots living abroad will increase,” Deputy Head of the Foundation Vladimir Pozdorovkin said.

According to the foundation, Russians have mostly faced threats, insults, property damage and violent attacks. The cancellation of Russian culture and the Russian language, as well as the denial of services in various organisations are a separate topic. Other violations include discrimination at work and educational institutions and politically motivated criminal prosecutions.

Surprisingly, the vast majority of reports of Russophobia came from the most “democratic and free” countries such as Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, the United States and Germany.