“This war is not for all Russians”
March against the invasion in Ukraine, in Brussels, on March 6th. © BelgaImage
Relatively discreet, the Russian (or Russian-speaking) community in Belgium numbers a few thousand nationals. According to Unia, reported cases of discrimination are relatively rare. The invasion in Ukraine, however, anti-Russian racism would be on the increase. Settled for twenty years in Belgium, Elena Bourenina can testify to this. On March 10, she founded the Stop Hate Russians Facebook page. She denounces, most of the time in French, Russophobia, sensitizes members to her culture and sends messages of peace.
Elena Bourenina has been campaigning against all forms of racism for years. Its fight in connection with the invasion in Ukraine resumed after the refusal of the municipality of Couvin to welcome the Russian supermarket Mere. The Communal College did not hide that the decision was partly guided by political reasons. “I was looking forward to the opening of this store, said Elena Burenina. What bothered me was that this debate was surrounded by hate speech against Russians and not just against the war. The Mere store was a trigger.”
She has family and friends in her home country. She also knows many Belgian Russian speakers. “I am in great sadness. I try to do what I can, I will give French lessons to Ukrainians who arrive in Belgium. Despite this, I am being insulted. We are beginning to be afraid of speaking Russian. This is the case of the Russians, but also of the Moldavians, the Uzbeks…“She achieved:”We must not attack the culture, nor the people, nor the language. This war is not that of all Russians. This is not my war”.