Eastern European businesses in B.C. feel impact of Russia's invasion of Ukraine
CBC
Some Eastern European businesses in British Columbia are feeling the impact of the conflict in Ukraine as some customers threaten those seen to support the Russian invasion.
Armed conflict in Ukraine has now stretched for nearly a week, and the ripple effects from the war have reached businesses with ties to the region.
One of those businesses is Russian Spoon, a bakery at Vancouver's Harbour Centre run by Natalia Mitrofanova, a Canadian citizen of Russian heritage.
Mitrofanova's shop serves Eastern European food, and she says her staff come from various countries in the region — including Ukraine, Moldova, Kazakhstan and Russia.
And though she says "30 per cent" of the food she serves is Ukrainian, and she publicly supports Ukraine amid the current invasion, the shop has received threatening calls from people due to her bakery's name.
"It is now a very difficult time for Russian businesses. Because of these tensions around war with Russia, and our name is Russian Spoon … we have difficulties, we have phone calls when people say, 'Please close business,'" she said.
"Some people swear … I will not hide. We don't communicate with them. We can't explain [to] people who just start a conversation, 'Are you still open [and] swear, swear, swear words,' right?"
Russian Spoon now features artwork showing they support Ukraine's efforts against the invasion, and the bakery is donating some proceeds from sales to charity efforts supporting refugees.
And even though she has a base of loyal customers, and security to protect her bakery, Mitrofanova says she is apprehensive if things escalate.
"We have customers everyday that come to us," she said. "But still … we worry, we worry everyday about what the next day brings us."
Another Vancouver business, Russian World on Main Street, declined an interview with CBC News, but said they had received threats since the invasion began.
Meanwhile, some businesses seen to support Ukraine are flourishing.
Paul Servos, who runs The Flag Shop in Victoria, says his shop had sold out of Ukrainian flags "almost instantaneously" on Feb. 24 when Russian forces began the invasion.
"There was a lot of very emotional people [who] came in to pick up flags in order to show their pride," he said. "Our phones have been ringing like crazy [with] people wanting Ukrainian flags."