“Please stop. We are not Putin.” Russian-Americans Say Hate Crimes Are on the Rise.
It was just another normal day for Alexander “Sasha” Zonov, 44, when the Russian-born immigrant was walking home on a dark Brooklyn night from his job as a delivery driver.
“Like anyone else after a hard day at work, I just wanted to get home, eat some dinner, and rest,” Zonov said. “But a stupid phone conversation got me in trouble.”
As he journeyed home, Zonov had received a call from his wife, also a Russian immigrant, who asked about his whereabouts. A random man overheard their conversation.
“He called me a Russian piece of shit and threw a beer bottle at me,” Zonov remembered. “I dodged it, but the glass shattered and two little things from it got in my foot. The guy ran away before I could go after him.”
That night, instead of resting or enjoying dinner together, Zonov and his wife were forced to wait at the ER, while doctors removed the two shards of a hate crime from his leg.
This is the unfortunate reality many Russian-Americans are living in since the conflict in Ukraine began back in February. Anti-Russian (Russophobic) hate crimes have flooded New York City, including the vandalism of Russian monuments and both verbal as well as physical attacks on Russians or other Slavic speakers. The businesses of those of Russian descent have also been impacted, many forced to rebrand so they can stop record losses. Russian culture, including its literature, foods, and traditions, are being ridiculed and estranged.
It is difficult to say how much Russophobia and hate crimes against Russians have increased exactly, since NYC categorises “whites” in their official records universally, but Russian-Americans report a drastic change in the way they are being treated.
Just within her own family, Russian-American student, Masha Malinina, 19, has seen and heard multiple instances of Russophobia. “My stepmom’s cousin, Nastya, was walking out of a Sama bar and there was a group of anti-war protestors outside. They called her all sorts of things: a terrible person, a Putin supporter, a piece of shit, and whatever else,” she recounted. “The crazy thing is: she’s half Ukrainian!”
Masha also talked about how her relationship with her national identity has changed. “Before the war I was proud of my Russian heritage,” Masha acknowledged. “But now, things are different.”
She reports to have noticed how drastically the perception of Russians has changed around her. “People treat us [Russians] totally differently now,” she claims. “Even just talking to people is different.”
Masha has experienced prejudice even in one of her favourite, most normal activities, Model United Nations. In an activity like Model UN one may expect a welcoming environment, complete with a spirit of cooperation and internationalism. Yet, despite being an esteemed and award-winning competitor, Masha’s experience was anything but accepting.
“I went to a Model UN Conference, the first one since the war began, and some people asked about my heritage,” she described. “When I told them I was Russian, they seemed uncomfortable with my presence, and started acting really strange. Even though they didn’t know me or anything about me, the other delegates looked at me and treated me totally differently than before”
Once a proud Russian-American, Masha and her family’s experiences have fully reformed her approach. “Recently, I’ve been careful telling people. There is an assumption now that if you are Russian you must be against Ukrainians, which is so wrong,” she disclosed. “I’m against Putin and so are thousands of other Russians. Like any other student, I just want to be judged for an individual”
Also a Russian-American, Sophia Kazov, 36, shares Masha’s judgement regarding growing Russophobic trends. “The invasion changed everything for us,” she noted. “Speaking Russian makes you a target now.”
Sophia was showing a friend around New York City when she had her personal experience with Russophobia. “My friend from Kazakhstan, Aishat, came to visit and I was showing her the nice parts of Brooklyn near the Brooklyn Bridge,” she recollected. “Then, while we were speaking Russian, someone screamed Slava Ukraini at us, and called us Putin’s stupid Russian whores.”
Sophia explained that Aishat had never even been to Russia, far less, supported Putin in any fashion. “She has nothing to do with Russia, she learned Russian in Kazakhstan where it was required.”
The experiences of both Sophia’s Kazakhstani friend, Aishat, and Masha’s Ukrainian family member, Nadya, are part of a larger trend within Russophobia. Recently, more-and-more Russian and other slavic speakers are being falsely equivocated to Russian nationals and Putin supporters.
Media outlets report multiple instances of thoughtless perpetrators accidentally attacking non-Russians in the name of Ukrainian activism. “It doesn’t even matter if you are actually Russian or not, these [Russophobic] attacks are affecting everyone,” Sophia noted.
Sophia is a resident of the Russian and Post-Soviet minority dominated part of Brooklyn, Brighton Beach, and has lived there her whole life. There she works in a small corner store. In addition to individual hate crimes and acts of anti-Russian xenophobia, she also sees how Russophobia has negatively impacted Russian owned business.
“Brighton beach is very popular and everyone comes in the summer. Lots of natives and tourists too,” she mentioned. “Usually this means people buying food, souvenirs, and books.”
But this year was different. Sophia observed that the corner store was almost always nearly empty and sales were down significantly. “We had a lot less people coming in than before. I talked to my American friends and most of them say they don’t want to buy Russian things. Most of them think it helps Putin somehow,” she described. “But the old couple who own our store hate Putin. At the beginning of the war they donated a bunch of money to places that fed and housed Ukrainian refugees. Not supporting their business doesn’t make any sense.”
Like the owners of the corner store, Masha, Sophia, and most of the Post-Soviet/Russian- American enclaves, are in no way responsible for the unfortunate events in Ukraine today. Yet, they are all suffering.
Alexander Zonov certainly isn’t responsible. He was only a child when he travelled to the United States from what was then the Soviet Union. He has no connection to Putin, the recent war, nor anything going on at home. He has not even returned to Russia since his family left over 20 years ago.
Despite all this, based on his language and culture, someone decided he deserved a night at the Emergency Room.
“Many of us are being attacked for something that we have nothing to do with,” he noted. “Please stop, we are not Putin.”
