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In Nordin's restaurant,
Spring's son
g is playing, the best-known song by Kvitka Cisiyk, a Ukrainian singer.
In The Nights of Moscow (Marqués de Santa Ana Street, 37) the Ukrainian waitress answers phone calls split on a wheel phone and a cordless phone, the suppliers mutter good morning loaded with the product of the day and the workers look at the clock out of the corner of their eyes. cross the threshold of the door.
Founded 40 years ago,
it is the oldest Russian restaurant in Madrid.
"We received threatening calls. They threatened to rape her," Nordin recounts the harassment they have suffered since the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine.
The waitress prefers not to say too much about the situation in her country.
Her parents are "trapped".
Nordin is of Moroccan origin.
The bar is owned by his wife, born in Madrid and of Russian descent, and he runs it.
"There are clients who do not come as if they thought that this is also penalizing Putin
. What they are doing is harming Spain."
In the midst of an international conflict caused by Russia, the restaurant is no longer so Russian.
Authenticity makes them lose money.
"Here we serve Russian beer produced in Germany. Vodka produced by Osborne.
And the recipe book covers Russian, Ukrainian, Georgian or Moldavian food made with Spanish raw materials
."
Nordin calculates that dinners, the most profitable time of day for the restaurant, are down 50%.
"Russian customers keep coming.
Maybe the Spanish are expecting fights between Russians and Ukrainians here
. "
He is also in charge of the Tatiana restaurant, in the Plaza del 2 de Mayo.
"We have noticed something strange.
The name sounds Russian. People have stopped going. We offer fusion food that is not Russian at all
," he clarifies.
The butcher shop where Moscow Nights buys the genre downplays the consequences of the war.
"The crisis is becoming noticeable, but in general, because of the rise in prices," says Juan, who works at Juan Cristóbal Aves y Caza.
"The Russian restaurant continues to work. They order products from us.
There is not much difference. We suffer from a conglomeration of problems."
"Dozens of cases a day"
Russophobia is channeled in the Casa Rusa, the institute of culture, science and sports attached to the Government of Moscow with headquarters in Alcalá street.
"Just from Madrid we get dozens of cases a day
," says Sergei Sarimov, its director.
They enabled a Telegram channel in which Russian citizens share their experiences and receive advice.
"We receive cases of bullying in schools and threats. Many students who are studying double programs in Spain have been forced to return to Moscow.
Other compatriots cannot use their credit cards
. There are also no direct flights to Russia. It is a witch hunt. Instead of witches, they are all Russians.
Sergei Sarimov at the headquarters of the government agency Casa RusaÁNGEL NAVARRETE
Serguei avoids linking Russophobia with the bombings.
As if the sanctions and unjustifiable attitudes of some citizens in relating to the Russian community had come out of nowhere.
"
I can't talk about politics. It's not my role. It's like if you ask a pharmacy boy about nuclear physics"
, he hides behind the cultural collaboration agreement signed between Russia and Spain.
"Many times we recommend going directly to the Police to report some of these attitudes. Within the next few days we will make a Russian lawyer available to our compatriots, who will give an
online
talk ."
The Russian House has lost collaborators.
Their acts, since the outbreak of the war, ceased to be face-to-face and are focused on the defense of the Spanish-Russian community.
"We focus our activity on telematic productions. We managed to organize 200 events. With the cases of threats we have to turn to the defense of the rights of our compatriots.
Now we cannot work with some universities.
I am sure that the ties will not go away .
completely break".
New Ukrainian restaurants
Rasputin (Yeseros, 2) changed the description on Google.
Now it is "Ukrainian restaurant".
Like its owner, Sergei, who came to Madrid from New York three years ago.
"We receive emails and negative comments from people who have not even come. Google has already deleted some. In one of the emails they even told me 'we are going to kill you,'" he says by phone from the restaurant's kitchen.
He does not speak spanish.
His parents returned to Ukraine days before Russian battleships crossed the country's eastern border.
"If he knew what was going to happen, he wouldn't have let them come back."
Francisco, the cook, has been working in the restaurant for 15 years.
"The card is the same. There aren't many differences.
We've changed the description but we're still doing the same thing
."
Has the clientele gone down?
“Something has been noticed.
Regular customers think about it more now.
And people who don't know us don't come.
Some do know who we are and continue to come
, but not as many as before.
Russofobia sounds strange to the ears of Cristina, head of the secretariat of the Russian school at Casa Russia, the civil association that was born the same year as the Orthodox cathedral in Madrid.
She organizes the courses they teach to children and adults.
"I have lived in other countries
and Spain is the one that welcomes the best. I have not perceived Russophobia
. We have not had casualties in the courses. We have had a lot of help from the students. We know that in other countries there were altercations or graffiti in places like the ours but for the moment nothing has happened".
News of the invasion nauseated him.
"I try not to soak up information at all times. I cannot understand why Russian culture is punished.
What relationship can the Russian museum in Malaga have with all this?
It makes me sad. It is the problem of spreading false news. It is very easy. There is You have to be very careful and balanced.
Cristina, a graduate in Modern Languages and Literature, Slavic and German Philology and Translation and Interpretation, has no doubts: "We are all condemning the war. Our position is that of Father Andrey. Among us there are Ukrainian colleagues. We are a family. The language unites and does not separate us.
Each one of us is part of the community".
None of the families that have reported bullying have answered the call from this newspaper.
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