Since the beginning of the Ukrainian-Russian conflict, attitudes towards Ukrainians in Moscow have worsened markedly, from both policemen and ordinary citizens.
Vladimir, a Ukrainian migrant worker in Moscow, said that in Moscow, a man was talking to his brother on the phone in Ukrainian, when he was approached with a knife and beaten, writes Tizhden.
“They yelled, ‘What, khokhol, got what you wanted?’ ” says Vladimir. He also claims that policemen have started demanding bigger bribes from illegals. “The policemen who knew we were illegals used to get their bribe once a month and then leave. Now, they come a few times a week. One barged in, drunk as a pig, and said that we owe him because we’re Banderites and his grandfather liberated us,” he says.
“Where once speaking Ukrainian in Moscow could get you a yell of ‘khokhol,’ now speaking Ukrainian can get you beaten. A cafe waitress heard us speaking Ukrainian and called the police. We had to give 50 dollars,” he adds.
According to Vladimir, after the Russian media reported that fascists trained in Lithuania and Poland were shooting on Maidan, “It was almost like open season on Ukrainians in Moscow.” One man from Lviv was unlucky. He was robbed and severely beaten. The authorities refused to press charges. The doctor gave first aid, took an X-ray, and charged so much for treatment that the person bound his broken ribs, swallowed some pain killers, and, keeping his breathing to a minimum because it hurt, took the train home,” the migrant worker said.
As a reminder, March 16 was the date of the so-called referendum concerning the status of Crimea. The Head of the Supreme Council for referendum organization, Mikhail Malyshev, announced that 96.6% of Crimea’s inhabitants voted for unification with the Russian Federation.
On March 21, Russian president Vladimir Putin signed a law on the accession of Crimea and Sevastopol to the Russian Federation.
The USA and the EU have refused to recognize the results of the Crimean referendum and levied sanctions against some Russian businessmen and government officials, freezing their assets abroad and imposing visa restrictions.
Source: http://comments.ua/politics/459093-moskve-izbivayut-lyudey-govoryat.html
Translated by Anna Shvets, edited by Robin Rohrback
