Marat Akaev, a Russian who has lived in Lyon since 2005, opened Les Délices de la Caspienne in 2009 to offer French people products from Eastern Europe.
Its clientele, Russian as well as Ukrainian, Polish and Hungarian, testifies to a common attachment to their culture, not to politics.
While Russian restaurateurs receive death threats in Lyon, their compatriots recall their rejection of Putin's regime.
“Putin is crazy!
Marat Akaev shakes his head.
The manager of Délices de la Caspienne, an Eastern European grocery store in the Garibaldi district (Lyon 3), hates politics.
“I am very far from that.
Even when I was in Russia, I didn't vote, because leaders have no heart.
»
Marat Akaev was born in Makhachkala, Russia, by the Caspian Sea.
In 2005, the Putin regime convinced him to join his family, who had already taken refuge in Lyon, a city he "loves".
He opened the Caspian Delights in 2009, to bring together all the products from Eastern Europe, whether Russian, Ukrainian, Polish, Hungarian or even Armenian.
A diversity and a mixture that is found in its clientele, Russian-speaking and very supportive of their common geographical area.
Against threats, testimonies of support
“We are all friends in my store!
says Marat Akaev.
“During the recent conflict between Azerbaijan and Armenia, many nationals of these two countries came here to show their friendship.
And now that there is war in Ukraine, I have Russian and Ukrainian clients who come together, on purpose.
Among his employees, he has Ukrainians "and we get along very well".
Earlier this week, two Russian restaurants in Lyon, King Alexander and Volga, received death threats.
King Alexander's managers filed a complaint on Thursday;
contacted, they indicated that they no longer wanted to comment on the subject.
Marat Akaev has mostly received support.
"Every day, people come to tell us that they are with us, they know that we have nothing to do with this war," he said.
“Threats, I don't care, they don't scare me.
If the unhappy people have the courage, let them come see me and tell me things to my face.
Let them come and tell me what they blame me for!
»
In the small grocery store, customers fill their baskets with smoked sprats, malossol pickles, and an impressive amount of sweets.
"My French customers come mainly for the beers, vodka and salmon eggs", laughs the manager.
In front of the shop, pallets arrived on time are unloaded: “I ordered 70,000 euros worth of goods from Russia and Ukraine, to be quiet for at least 6 months.
»
Lyonnais Russians fiercely opposed to Putin
Yulia, a retired dance teacher, often comes to Délices de la Caspienne.
A Muscovite living in Lyon since 1996, she was devastated by the war in Ukraine.
"I can't say I'm surprised, Putin has been planning this for a long time, we couldn't expect anything good," she said.
“I know it's not…fashionable to be Russian these days,” she smiles sadly, “but I'm not ashamed of where I come from.
It's Putin I'm ashamed of."
Tugan, a 30-something driver, left with paprika sausages.
Distrustful at first, he confided that he was Russian by his father, Belarusian by his mother, "and we all came to France when Putin arrived because it was the country my great-grandparents dreamed of", he explains.
"I'm being looked at a little askance at the moment, but I'll never go back there, it's not my country anymore.
I have nothing to do with it, I just want us to live in peace, but it's not us who decide, apparently, ”he concludes, bitter.
World
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Miscellaneous facts
War in Ukraine: A Russian restaurant in Lille receives a threatening letter
Lyons
War
Vladimir Poutine
Russia
War in Ukraine
Society
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