ISLANDERS are being urged to show understanding and ‘not tar an entire nation with the same brush’, as Russians living in Jersey are ‘scared to be outside’ after receiving threats and abuse.
One Russian charity volunteer said she had been confronted with pictures of guns and a map with Russia cut out of it, and had been left scared to speak in case people asked the origin of her accent.
Since the invasion of Ukraine by forces controlled by the Putin regime, reports have grown of Russian nationals living in western countries receiving verbal and physical abuse, and children from Russian backgrounds being bullied at school.
Anna, who works voluntarily for the Street Pastors, said that she had become worried about speaking in public in case people asked about her accent and nationality. She explained that she had been intimidated while working a night shift for the Christian charity, which supports and cares for Islanders during the weekend social periods, and had suspended her shifts as a result.
‘I had been worried about going out. There had been reports on Facebook of people being verbally abused or punched in pubs, just because they might look Russian,’ she said.
‘I thought the street pastors might be my chance to go back to normality, but then the night started with a guy in military uniform showing us pictures of big and small guns he has, saying that he is getting ready for World War Three because “Putin is coming”.
‘And it finished with a big group of guys, with a big globe, aggressively asking people in the street where Ukraine was. Russia was cut out from the globe and was just a big hole. I was literally shaking and couldn’t say a word,’ she added.
A statement on behalf of the Russian community in Jersey said that they ‘do not support or condone’ violence and had been ‘shocked and saddened to hear of Russian-speaking people in Jersey receiving abuse’ and becoming scared to leave their homes.
They said: ‘Just because people might originally be from a country involved in a war, it does not mean that they share the same values and beliefs of the government of that country that is carrying out the war.
‘As a community of people, we do not support or condone violence to other human beings, no matter what.’
They added that other Russian-speaking nationals such as Ukrainians, Moldovans and Belarussians could be affected.
‘We know of several people who are afraid and scared to be outside on the streets, especially at night, in case they are attacked verbally or physically, just because you might look Russian or sound Russian.
‘People shouldn’t be afraid to leave their own homes. [They should be able to] live their lives in a small, safe island like Jersey, without fear of being racially abused.
