Vancouver Russian bakery facing threats amid Ukraine war

After the emergence of Russia’s war on Ukraine, a Russian bakery cafe in Vancouver has been receiving threatening phone calls, sparking fear in the staff and owner.

Natalia Mitrofanova says she understands the worry people in B.C. may be facing watching the conflict unfold overseas, but the threatening phone calls are causing stress.

“This situation, of course, impacts my business because my name, unfortunately, has a word which is just not in favour right now — ‘Russian’ Spoon. But I cannot change the name … because the Russian represents not only the Russian food but also Russian culture.”

Mitrofanova is a Canadian citizen of Russian heritage running the bakery-cafe for about three years at Vancouver’s Harbour Centre, which serves several dishes including food from Ukraine, Uzbekistan and Georgia.

“We do not support the war. We are just a bakery trying to serve food for customers, but people don’t want to listen to an explanation. They’re just very mad,” she said.

This weekend, the Vancouver Russian Community Centre members found their building vandalized with the front doors covered in blue and yellow paint — colours of the Ukrainian flag.

Some bystanders of the vandalism said it was “sending the wrong message” since Russian people are not at fault for the war. Rather, President Vladimir Putin and his right-hand, top-ranked generals are the ones responsible for escalating the conflict.

Related Article: Russian Community Centre members say vandalism ‘feels backwards’

Mitrofanova echoed that message, pleading British Columbians to not “connect our pastry to things going on right now. It’s not related to war. It’s just food and [cooks cooking for] people who are in Canada … trying to be a good bakery and be in this community to serve customers.”

Extra security has been called in to support the Russian Spoon, Mitrofanova says and extra staff have been brought in through the day to support the restaurant.

While some calls the restaurant takes have been difficult, Mitrofanova says they have also received kind and thoughtful calls from locals supporting the business.

This week the Russian Spoon has been collecting funds for the UNICEF Ukrainian emergency fund to support children and families affected by the Ukrainian war.

“We open accounts and we collect each dollar from meals which represent Ukrainian dishes like borsch or cabbage roll,” Mitrofanova explained.

So far this week, the cafe has raised over $300.

– With files from Katarina Szulc