Recently, Ukrainians, in particular those who were forced to leave the country because of the war, are increasingly facing hostile attitudes abroad. These cases include various forms of discrimination, offensive statements and aggressive behavior by local residents and employees of various institutions. One such incident was the case of Ukrainian journalist Olena Mudroi, which happened at a train station in Prague, Czech Republic. This event not only reflects the journalist’s personal experience, but also raises a broader question about the attitude towards Ukrainians who ended up abroad due to the war.
As notes Elena Mudra in her Facebook post, the unpleasant incident happened on the evening of Friday, September 28, 2024, at the main train station in Prague. Olena, along with several colleagues, stayed in the station hall to look after the luggage of the Ukrainian group with which they were traveling. After a long journey, the journalist decided to sit on the windowsill next to a large pile of suitcases to rest a little. This moment was the beginning of the conflict, which turned into a serious scandal.
As Olena tells, the waitress of the cafe, which is located next to the place where she sat down, suddenly began to behave aggressively. At first, she started shouting at Elena, demanding that she immediately get up from the windowsill and leave that place. Elena was surprised by this behavior, because other visitors’ belongings, including bags and food, were already lying on the windowsill, and no one had made any comments before. The waitress couldn’t clearly explain why you can’t sit on the windowsill, but quickly switched to personal insults. She began to insult not only Elena, but also openly expressed contempt for Ukraine and Ukrainians, which caused even more indignation.
Elena explains that at that moment, six men who called themselves guards of the station joined the conflict. They approached the journalist aggressively, demanding that she immediately leave the main hall of the station. However, as Elena points out, these men could not provide any documents that would confirm their status as bodyguards. Their actions and behavior were clearly aimed at intimidating the journalist and her colleagues. They not only demanded that Olena leave the hall, but also began insulting her and humiliating her nationality, using insulting expressions about Ukraine.
The journalist notes that one of the men, who joined the conflict later, introduced himself as a public order volunteer and declared that he was a volunteer for the war in Ukraine. However, his behavior caused Elena even more concern, as this man spoke to her in Ukrainian, but with a strong Russian accent, and constantly tried to insult her and discredit Ukraine. Olena noted that his behavior was aimed at further aggravating the conflict.
In addition, during the conflict, they were joined by three more men who also introduced themselves as station guards. They were dressed in uniforms similar to the uniforms of station employees and demanded that the journalist show her a train ticket. However, Elena asked them to show their IDs first, as their aggressive behavior and attempts to grab her arm made her suspicious of their true role. After Elena questioned their IDs, the men stopped asking her for a ticket, but continued to demand that she leave the main hall of the station and move to another floor or platform with her luggage.
The situation continued to escalate when an older man in his mid-50s joined the conflict. He began to openly insult not only the journalist, but also Ukraine, using obscene language. The man behaved very aggressively, tried to get physically close to Elena, and only the threat of calling the police made him leave.
According to Elena, the conflict attracted the attention of many people who were at the station. Many of them started filming the event on their phone cameras, which created additional pressure on the guards and other participants in the conflict. However, even the presence of witnesses did not stop the men’s aggression, who continued to cling to Elena and insult her.
Police officers soon arrived at the scene of the conflict. However, instead of understanding the situation and protecting the journalist from aggression, the police began to blame Elena. They called her “abnormal” and pointed out that the territory of the station is private property, so she should leave it immediately. Olena tried to explain that the railway station is a public place and she has the right to be there while waiting for the train, but the police insisted.
One of the policemen offered Elena to sit on the floor next to the luggage or to move to another windowsill, which was further from the cafe. Olena pointed out the illogicality of this proposal, but the police did not discuss it further and warned her that if they were called to the place again, they would take her and her colleagues to the police station for the night.
This incident lasted for about half an hour, during which Olena and her colleagues were subjected to numerous insults and aggressive behavior from local “guards” and cafe staff. All this happened in front of many witnesses, but even the intervention of the police did not help to solve the situation fairly.
This story of Olena Mudroi is just one of many cases when Ukrainians abroad face discrimination and prejudice. She emphasizes the importance of protecting the rights of Ukrainians who are forced to leave their country because of the war, and the need for the international community to respond more actively to such cases. Similar incidents demonstrate that, despite the official support of Ukraine, there is a biased attitude at the level of individual citizens, which often turns into aggression and discrimination.
