Warning to Russian speakers as Telford shop targeted by 'hate crime' vandals
A shopkeeper has spoken out to warn people about anti-Russian hate crime after her store was targeted by vandals using graffiti in the colours of Ukraine.
Sofia's Eastern European Supermarket in Trench was sprayed with graffiti reading 'f*** Putin' in the early hours of Sunday morning.
So far nobody has been arrested over the incident but West Mercia Police is treating it as a hate crime.
The shop on Meadow Close is run by Olga, who asked for her surname not to be used, who was greeted by the offensive slur on her shutters when she arrived at work.
Olga believes the attack was done to stir hatred in Russian-speaking people in the area in the wake of President Putin's invasion in Ukraine. The graffiti was sprayed in the blue and yellow colours of Ukraine.
It is the first time Olga has been targeted in such a way in the 11 years she has run the shop and the 15 years she has lived in the area.
The 40-year-old said: "Even if people come in here drunk, like some do, they're never rude. They're just, you know, polite. We have never had a problem with vandalism.
"I have no idea who might've done it, I don't know, but this 'night hero' has expressed his political views in absolutely inappropriate words and manner.
"I think it was done to incite hatred to all Russian-speaking people in our area, and I think they're trying to threaten me, my family and my customers by berating people. Lots of us are against what is happening in Russia."
Olga is originally from Chelyabinsk in central Russia - around 1,000 miles away from Ukraine. She feels that the vandal targeted her shop because she speaks Russian openly with some of her customers, 95 per cent of which she says speak Russian.
Olga added that the person who sprayed the graffiti chose an 'easy route' by vandalising her property.
"I think it might even be one of my customers," she said but does not have any evidence for this and the police investigation is continuing. Olga said she has not had any conflict with any specific people.
She said she hopes that by reporting it to the police, there will be a degree of protection towards Russian-speaking people, adding: "The vandal wouldn't have thought 'Oh, who is Russian, who is not Russian'.
"If you speak Russian they will target you, people should know that this is happening in our area. I've told the police everything that I'm thinking, everything I can prove and everything I know."
The shutters are now clean of any spray paint after Olga's husband cleared the paint off. He added that it did not take long to clean.
A spokesman for West Mercia Police said: "Police are appealing for witnesses after a shop front in Telford was vandalised in a suspected hate crime.
"Sofia Eastern European Food Shop in Meadow Close, Trench was targeted in the early hours of Sunday where offensive graffiti was left on the shop’s shutters."
