Ukraine: British Russians fear backlash after invasion

A Russian woman living in the UK is worried her community will face growing discrimination as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

Kate Severdova, from Wolverhampton, was shocked by the invasion and said she did not support President Putin.

Russia launched its military offensive on neighbouring Ukraine last week.

"I'm not ashamed to say I'm Russian, but I'm a bit afraid, I'm worried society will have this perception that all Russians are bad," she said.

Ms Severdova was born in Crimea and said she moved to the UK in 2008 with her young son "in search of a better life".

"I used to feel some kind of respect for President Putin in the past, because he brought Russia from dumpsters really and made it a prosperous country, in my opinion," she told BBC Radio WM.

"But in the last I would say 10 years, I don't know if he's getting older, but he just went downhill."

When Russia invaded Ukraine by land, sea and air on Thursday, Ms Severdova said she was in shock, because she never thought it would happen.

She added that the move was not the fault of ordinary Russians.

On Sunday, Russians in the UK joined Ukrainian protesters in demonstrations across the country to criticise the invasion.

On social media, Ms Severdova said she has seen a number of posts about Russian people being targeted and abused and she is particularly worried about her son being exposed to discrimination at school.

"I'm worried, we don't want this to happen because we've got nothing to do with it," she said.

Elsewhere, Vadim Aleksin the director for the Russian Cultural Centre in Coventry, said he had received death threats on social media following the start of the conflict.

"All my colleagues, they have received the messages," he said.

"Some of them already deleted their Facebook page."

He said people were worried about how they will be affected by the conflict, with Russian speakers from other countries based in the city also worried about potential backlash.

"The people are scared because they don't know what is going on... some of them are worried about whether the country will send them back to Russia, some of them are scared about how the kids will be in school," he said.

"We are worried about bullying for the kids, not because they are Russians but because they are Russian speakers."

Follow BBC West Midlands on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [email protected]