Waiter in Czechia played Russian anthem for Ukrainian refugee
A Czech waiter decided to mock a Ukrainian woman (RBC-Ukraine collage)
In a restaurant near Prague, a waiter decided to make fun of a Ukrainian refugee. After the woman placed her order, the Russian national anthem and a siren started to play in the restaurant.
Olesya Koshilka, a Ukrainian who faced this mockery, shared about the incident on her TikTok page.
Incident details
Olesia Koshilka and her friend, both Ukrainian refugees residing in Czechia, decided to have lunch at "CottonClub Brandýs," a restaurant located in Brandýs-nad-Labem-Stará-Boleslav.
After placing their order, Olesia asked if the restaurant had Wi-Fi. The waiter's response was that they only had Russian Wi-Fi. Olesia presumed they mistook her for a Russian.
Five minutes later, the Russian national anthem began to play.
"I couldn't believe what was happening, so I went inside and asked, 'Is this the Russian anthem?' To which they replied, 'Yes.' I told them I'm Ukrainian, and they said, 'So what?' while laughing and playing the air raid siren sound," said Olesia in a statement to Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty.
@meilleeur_ 2.8: Прийшовши в ресторан пообідати, ми сіли за столик і я попросила пароль від Wi-Fi. Скорше всього офіціант почув акцент та посміявся сказавши, що Інтернет є тільки російський. Ми не звернули увагу і чекали своє замовлення. Через 5 хвилин вони включили гімн росії. Ми зайшли всередину і спитали: «Це гімн росії?», на що нам відповіли «так». Сказавши, що я українка нам відповіли: «і цо?», посміялись та ввімкнули звук сирени. 3.8: Адміністрація закладу вибачилася перед нами, а також звільнила офіціанта-ініціатора. Прошу не писати відгуки на інші заклади з такою ж назвою, цим ви псуєте репутацію закладів, які тут ні до чого
оригинальный звук - Olesya Koshilka
The video of the incident garnered over a million views and nearly 90,000 mostly outraged comments on social media:
- "Today it's us, tomorrow it'll be them. Don't pay attention to it."
- "You can be fully accepted in Ukraine only."
- "I'm proud of our people. It's heartwarming to see our response to this situation."
- "It's sad that some people don't understand that we are defending our country."
- "The person had a business, and the waiters ruined the restaurant's reputation."
Ukrainians also began posting negative reviews on the restaurant's pages. The establishment's rating on Google Maps dropped to 1.1 stars.
Outcome of the scandal
The restaurant management sided with the Ukrainians and issued an apology to them, while also terminating the employment of the offending waiter.
"On behalf of the management of CottonClub Brandýs, we want to inform you that we do not share the political views of our employees and distance ourselves from them. After the incident at our restaurant, the company's management decided to terminate the contract with the initiator, and he is no longer our employee. We also stand against any violations of human rights and freedoms against Ukraine," they posted on their Facebook page.
As of today, the restaurant's rating has recovered to 4.2 stars, and it appears that the Ukrainian reviews have been removed, though some may still be found online.
